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INDIAN LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY

CONTENTS

34. Dalit Aesthetics

DR. MRINMOY PRAMANICK

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Introduction

Let me begin talking about the dalit literature and aesthetics by quoting Homi
Bhabha (1990:6): “The margins of the nation displace the center; the peoples of the pe-
riphery return to rewrite the history and fiction of the metropolis.”

Let us delve into the meaning of ‘dalit’. The word ‘dalit’ according to National
Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR)1 “comes from the Sanskrit root dal- and
means ‘broken, ground-down, downtrodden, or oppressed.’”
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Dalits are the people who fall outside the traditional four-fold caste Font Size
system. This
four-fold caste system consists of Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra classes.
Throughout the history, dalits have been considered impure and polluting and are
therefore physically and socially excluded and isolated from the rest of society.

Dalit literary critics cover not only Harijans and neo-Buddhists in their literary cir-
cle but also all the untouchable communities living outside the boundary of the village,
as well as Adivasis, landless farm labours, workers, the suffering masses, and nomadic
and criminal tribes. In explaining the word, it will not do to refer only to the untouch-
able castes. People who are lagging behind economically will also need to be included.

Dalit Literature

Manusmriti, a book of social norms gives the following instructions to the shudras:

1. A Shudra is unfit to receive education. The upper varnas should not impart educa-
tion or give advice to a Shudra.
2. If a Shudra arrogantly presumes to preach religion to Brahmins, the king shall
have poured burning oil in his mouth and ears.

Dalit literature rejects canonical literature and literary tradition. Here, by canonical
literature we mean regional literature of Indian subcontinent. Dalit aesthetics and lit-
erature also rejects the various theories of literary criticism which are prevalent in
India. As we know, Indian aesthetic tradition has always focused on the given criteria:

1. Satyam (truth)
2. Shivam (goodness)
3. Sundaram (beauty)

But according to many dalit literary critics, these criteria are not realistic and dalit lit-
erature does not try to fulfill them. Since we know that Indian aesthetic theory is
heavily influenced by western literary concepts therefore, dalit writers and critics also
reject the western popular theories of structuralism, deconstruction, and psychoanal-
ysis. Not only this, they also simultaneously reject the Indian concepts like rasa, dhvani
etc. Dalit literature aims to violate the established system of literary tradition which
has been set by the people belonging to privileged castes and classes. Dalit aesthetics
is based on the reality of human beings and the society in which they live.
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For instance, we cannot talk about the beauty of a dalit woman who is oppressed by
imagining the beauty of Sita or Radha. This comparison will not give us any under-
standing of Dalit literature. It is very difficult for a dalit reader to imagine Ram as their
hero when they worship Ravana.

Dr. C.B. Bharti claims:

“The aim of Dalit Literature is to protest against the established system which is
based on injustice and to expose the evil and hypocrisy of the higher castes. There is
an urgent need to create a separate aesthetics for Dalit literature, an aesthetics based
on the real experiences of life.” (The Aesthetics of Dalit Literature)

Dalit Aesthetics

One can claim that dalit aesthetic theory has some similarities with the theories of
subaltern literature. Dalit Aesthetic Theory is indigenous and is strongly based in the
history, politics and culture of Dalits. Indian literature has always used the theme of
untouchability in its literary pieces. But the description was mostly from the point of
view of a writer who is a savarna, or an upper caste writer. But dalit literature cannot
afford such point of view. The life and sufferings of a dalit can only be aptly penned
down by a writer who himself has faced such problems in his/her life. This is the pur-
pose of dalit literature. Caste consciousness was prevalent among earlier enthusiasts
like Kabirdas, Ravidas, Jyotiba Phule, Ambedkar and many more. Writers who existed
before Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, were mild towards the Indian poetics tradition. They ac-
cepted the tenets of Hindu religion in their works. But at the same time they lamented
over their condition due to oppression from the other higher castes.

The twentieth century dalit literature has been revolutionized by the writings of Dr B.
R. Ambedkar. It openly challenged the traditions and dogmas of Hindu religion.

According to Dr Ambedkar the main cause of social and cultural exploitation of the
Dalit people is mainly due to the unfair and partial laws which are dictated by Hindu
religious scriptures. Contemporary dalit literature portrays the harrowing experiences
and the humiliation suffered by the dalits. Dalit literature shows reality in the sense
that it exposes the inequality, sorrow, and misery of the oppressed class which they
receive from the savarnas. Therefore, pertaining such a history it Increase Font Size
is necessary that
dalit literature should be revolutionary, didactic, and doctrinaire.

There are many caste divisions among the dalits too. But one particular caste among
the dalits cannot portray itself to be the champion of dalit literature. It cannot belong
to one particular caste. It refers to all the people who have suffered oppression, ex-
ploitation and humiliation at the hand of the savarnas. Dalits “had no land to till nor
could they follow any profession. They did menial work, were treated like animals,
lived apart from the village and had to accept leftovers from the higher caste people,
in return for their endless toil. Their physical contact was said to pollute the upper
caste – even their shadow was said to have the same effect.”

Famous dalit writer Arjun Dangle, in his essay entitled “Dalit Literature: Past, Present
and Future,” brings out “general points regarding the role of Dalit literature and its lit-
erary value.” In this connection he remarks that “Dalit literature is not separatist” and
that “Dalit literature is not restricted only to the followers of Buddhism.

The concept of dalit aesthetics might make us perplexed. This is so because, the no-
tion of aesthetics has always sought be the right of the people belonging to powerful
castes and classes.People were and are of the idea that a dalits being uncivilized can
never truly understand the sense of aesthetics.

Dalit literature has always had two types of writers: first are the ones who have
sympathised with the dalits and penned down their oppression but these writers be-
longed to the upper castes and second are the writers who are dalits and have a first-
hand experience of all the sufferings and trauma that they have undergone.

Before dalit literature emerged in the northern belt of India, it was already a preva-
lent phenomenon in Maharashtra. It will not be wrong to say the dalit literature re-
ceived its momentum in Marathi language first. Hindi language has a wider audience
which gave greater weight to the dalit discourse in the North India. But one should ac-
knowledge the contribution of the Dalit Panther Movement which gave new heights to
the dalit literature.

Many literary critics (here I exclude dalit critics), believe that dalit literature should
be considered as any other regional or social cause based piece of literature. It should
be analysed using the same universal theories which which the other texts are ana-
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lysed. But eminent dalit writer and critic challenge this idea. In his opinion, Font Size
liter-
ary theories and ideas can never do any justice to dalit literature as they will fail to
connect with the literature of the oppressed and discriminated section of the society.

Many Savarna critics like Kavi Anil and Vidhyadhar Pundalik are of the opinion that
dalit literature is nothing special and can be penned down by anyone who has a power
of imagination and fit himself/herself in the shoes of a dalit. Any writer with such
qualities can envision the sufferings of a dalit. Limbale has panned such critics and
opined that “The aesthetics of Dalit literature rest on three things: first, the artist’s so-
cial commitment; second, the life-affirming values present in the artistic creation; and
third, the ability to raise the readers’ consciousness of fundamental values of life like
equality, freedom, justice, and fraternity.” (Towards An Aesthetics of Dalit Literature)

There is another major debate which encircles dalit aesthetics. Many critics are of
the opinion that dalit literature is a literature after all and the literary theories or the
aesthetics employed for other pieces of literature should be used for dalit literature as
well. According to critics like Rege and Kawthekar, it is unfair on the part of dalit writ-
ers to ask for separate aesthetic theories to cater its services. But there has been an-
other school of thought which says that every genre of literature is unique in its own
sense. A piece of literature is not a car which has approximately same body parts and
hence be analysed by a single mechanic. Since Dalit Literature is unique in its insis-
tence of social upliftment of the downtrodden therefore theorists should develop dif-
ferent artistic standards to analyse and critique upon a literary piece belonging to
dalit literature. That yardstick should be sensitive to the portrayal of dalit men,
women and children who have suffered and are suffering due to some dogmatic tradi-
tions. It should be able to voice the dalit rebellion which questions the
previously mentioned dogmas. It cannot simply focus on the portrayal of beauty or
sense of pleasure which is prevalent in the literary criticism of other literature. But the
harsh reality is that such criteria are not met. Moreover when the dalit writers and
critics question such oppressive sense of aesthetics then they are termed as whiny,
rebellious and of constant complaining nature. But the real fault lies faulty criticism of
Savarna critics.

Dalit literature is the literature of these oppressed people. It incorporates many

qualities which distinguish it from mainstream literature. It has a fiery strength and
authenticity, a sense of social mission and expressive vibrancy. It is a literature that
calls for a change in the attitude of society towards certain basic issues concerning in-
dividual relationship, social organization and caste based discrimination.Increase
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message
is clear and resounding. Its quality of literary expression is also of a high order.

The tradition in Hindi literature has been heavily influenced by its aesthetics whose
roots lie in the Sanskrit scriptures and vedas. It has not been able to evolve by leaving
behind the sense of aesthetics. Most of the poets and writers use the poetic devices
like rasa, dhvani, alankaras, and symbolism which is further influenced by the western
literary tradition. According to Dr Ajay Navaria4 “Dalit authors strongly reject this de-
velopment. Content-based authors such as the Dalit movement in Hindi fiction, stand no
change in front of critics that use euro-centric and other exogenous frames of reference
to evaluate fiction produced by the community of Dalits.”

An eminent Hindi dalit writer Omprakash Valmiki also puts forward his opinion on
this clash between mainstream writers and dalit writers. He says that one aesthetic
yardstick cannot and must not evaluate both the writings of mainstream literature and
dalit literature. The hegemony of mainstream literature is mainly due to its eurocen-
tric views which it has inculcated in its literary tradition. This eurocentric perception
is also ingrained with the idea of ruling the oppressed. Earlier, the kingdom of Britain
ruled the people of India because they were powerful than the latter. Now in the
present scenario, the mainstream hindi writers have hegemonized the space of the
dalit writers because the dalits have always remained an exploited and suppressed
class. It is due to this perception that the quality of a dalit literary piece holds little or
no value in the eyes of a savarna writer or a critic.

As Dr Sohan Lal aptly puts:

“Dalit writers express their experiences in the most realistic way using their native
speech, their languages as well images come from their own experiences instead of
from their observation of nature. The language of mainstream literature presents ro-
mantic view of life, while dalit poetry presents the realistic view of life.”

Conclusion

Dalit writers have always tried to be unique in their language and narrative style.
They have rejected upper-class flowery language which has been termed as the stan-
dard language; be it in any language. This is so because this language is created and
validated by upper-class people. And also they term such a language as a language of
oppression and subjugation. Moreover, standard language also misses Increase
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cultural vocabulary of Dalit lives which is necessary to pen down the lives and condi-
tions of the dalits. They have stopped relying on the aesthetics provided by hindu
scriptures and have developed their own symbols and aesthetics which has redefined
the dalit literature of India. Dr. Ambedker’s view on literature is also important to be
highlighted. He asserts that writers should take inspiration from the experience of
common people who have been suppressed throughout the centuries by the savarnas
of the country.

Not all the dalit writers are buddhists. Writers from different castes, sub-castes and
tribal communities have enriched the ever growing dalit literature. Dalit literature is
also inspired by Marxism. Marxism is a humanist thought which envisions a free soci-
ety which is not subjugated by anyone or anything. Dalit literature also seeks emanci-
pation and equality and also raises its voice against the exploitation of the oppressed.
Dalit writings do not only talk about the social problems of the dalits, but they are also
concerned with the economic problems, especially the economic inequality among the
dalits and savarnas. Economic inequality is also another reason which results into so-
cial disparity. Another resemblance between Marxism and Dalit literature is that of the
common man. The protagonist often belongs to the lowest strata of the society. Dalit
autobiographies are the recollection and reminiscence of dalit experience with a pur-
pose. Dalit literature help in asserting one’s existence.

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Reference

1. Bharti, C.B., “The Aesthetics of Dalit literature,” Trans. Darshana Trivedi. Hyati,
June 1999.
2. Bhabha, Homi K., editor. Nation and Narration. Routledge, 1990.
3. Dangle, Arjun. (ed.) 1992. “Poisoned Bread: Translation from Modern Marathi Dalit
Literature”. Hyderabad, Orient Longman.
4. Doniger, W. (1991). The Laws of Manu. London: Penguin Books Ltd.
5. Limbale Sharankumar 2004. “Towards An Aesthetic of Dalit Literature: History,
Controversies and Considerations”, New Delhi, Orient Blackswan.
6. Mishra, Jugal Kishore. “A Critical Study of Dalit Literature.”
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Indian Literary Criticism and Theory Copyright © by Dr. Mrinmoy Pramanick. All Rights
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