| IJELC |
International
Journal of English Literature and Culture |
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International Journal of English Literature and Culture Vol. 6(2), pp. 30-35, April, 2018 ISSN: 2360-7831 DOI: 10.14662/IJELC2018.010
Review paper
Untouchable: An Effort of Anand to Save Dalits from Subalternity and Ideological Assumptions
*Dr. Ghanshyam Pal and ** Dr. Anita Goswami
*Assistant Professor, HNBGU Central University Srinagar, Garhwal Uttarakhand ** Assistant Professor, RSRN Degree College, Gorakhpur
Accepted 18 March 2018
Mulk Raj Anand (1905-2004) is a well-known and prolific novelist, a pioneer of Indian writing in English. His literary works are noted for his realistic, socialistic, iconoclastic and sympathetic documentation and delineation of social, political, religious and economic issues. Poverty, inequality, injustice, oppression, discrimination, exploitation, suffering, untouchability are the key themes being discussed in his novels. Untouchable is his debut novel which revolves round an eventful day of an outcaste, Bakha, a scavenger who being a prototype of millions of untouchables of India symbolizes their plight and predicament, hardship and humiliation, merciless tortures and inhuman torments to which they were subjected. The sub-colonial dominant discourse of casteism in traditional Indian society runs parallel with the hegemonic discourse of British colonialism. As an example of subaltern studies, Untouchable takes the perspective of Bakha as the ‘Other’ who is muted and silenced by the dominant discourse of caste-hierarchy. This research paper is an effort to mark Untouchable as an instance of subaltern studies with twofold implication and signification. This study investigates the dominant discourses or the ideological assumptions in traditional Hindu society. This humanist, social reformer adheres to the doctrine of humanism and Gandhianism and envisages a casteless and classless nation. As Charles Dickens he makes use of photographic realism. As Charles Lamb he feels for the poor and the downtrodden. And as Karl Marx he is the fountain of proletarian humanism.
Keywords: Casteism, Subaltern, Humanism, Ideological assumptions, Untouchable.
Cite This Article As: Pal G, Goswami A (2018). Untouchable: An Effort of Anand to Save Dalits from Subalternity and Ideological Assumptions. Inter. J. Eng. Lit. Cult. 6(2): 30-35 |
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