Abstract 96
Najila T.Y.
It is this composition that I intend to analyse to demonstrate how literature is used efffectively as a medium to express dissent. Dalit writing when it adopted the mode of autobiography has proved doubly incisive to the modern psyche.
Najila T.Y.
Voices of
Dissent from the
Voiceless
Abstract
The marginalised
are a part
of any and
every society. They were
the ones who
were conspicuous by
their absence in
the history of
the world. With the advent
of postcolonial thought, intellectuals from
the high temples
of learning in
the West wondered
if the subaltern
could ever speak. When
the tumultuous twentieth
century passed through
New Criticism, Structuralism and
Poststructuralism, literature
divorced itself completely
from social, political,
cultural or personal
considerations; it converged into
itself to the
total exclusion of
extraneous elements. Towards the
latter half of
the century though, a
few voices like
that of Sheila
Delany sought to
emphasize the "impossibility of
ideologically neutral positions". She brought
out CounterTraditions: A Reader
in The Literatutre
of Dissent and
Alternatives. But its scope
covered only the
concerns of mainstream
culture.
Towards the
end of the
century however, Dalits in
India found a
voice to express
their dissent through
literature. It provided a vent to
their frustrations at the hands
of an oppressive
society. Bama Faustina, one such
downtrodden female expressed
her dissent through
the potent medium
of a stark
autobiography. Karukku
written in a
Tamil sporting a
local flavour. The book
attracted attention not
just for its
content but for
all the right
literary reasons. Though non-Tamil
readers like us
may be deprived
of a first-hand
experience of the
work, Lakshmi Holmstrom's translation
more than compensates
by providing it
a wider reach
into the English-speaking world. As
a work intended
to primarily expose
the absurd sanctity
accorded to oppressive
social strructures, it has
succeeded tremendously.It is this composition that I intend to analyse to demonstrate how literature is used efffectively as a medium to express dissent. Dalit writing when it adopted the mode of autobiography has proved doubly incisive to the modern psyche.
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