A Critical Study of Marathi Dalit

Autobiographies Translated into

English

Vandana Pathak

Raison d’être

Read biographies and

autobiographies to develop an

insight into human nature and

psyche to cope up more effectively

with the challenges of life.

This Caught Me On….

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6+ 6 Selected Texts

Objectives

• To Define Terms like Dalit, Dalit Literature & Dalit Autobiographies

• To study multiplicity of motifs in these texts

• To Analyze Various Characters/ Protagonists

• To Study Their Quest for Identity

• To Analyze & Interpret Various Narrative Strategies Employed in the Marathi & Translated English Texts

• To Evaluate the Quality of Translations

• To Compare Translated Texts with African American Autobiographies, etc.

Research Methodology

• Interdisciplinary &

Comparative Lit.

• Marathi & English

Literature, Linguistics-

(Translation Studies,

Sociolinguistics, Stylistics,

Pragmatics, etc.), African

American Literature,

Sociology, Anthropology,

History & Psychology

• Descriptive, Interpretative,

Analytical & Comparative

• Application of literary Theories-

• Social Realism

• Cuture

• Humanism

• Existentialism

• Marxism

• Feminism

• Focault’s Concept of Power

• Fanon’s Theory

• Gayatri Spivak

• Indian Aesthetics, Western Poetics, Dalit Aesthetics, etc

Chapter Scheme

• Chapter One:New Terrain (Dalit Literature And Autobiographies)

• Chapter Two: Mirrored Life

• Chapter Three: Canvas of Life-One Too Many

• Chapter Four: Quest for Identity

• Chapter Five: Direct from the Heart-Narrative Strategies

• Chapter Six: Comparative Statement

• Chapter Seven: The Sun Rises-Conclusion

Chap. I: New Terrain: Dalit Literature

• Definition of Key Concepts

• Dalit

• Dalit Literature

• Literature-Plato, Aristotle, Longinus, Horace, Sidney,

Johnson, Matthew Arnold, Emerson, Raymond

Williams, and Terry Eagleton,

• Common characteristics of literature

• Outline of Dalit Lit. in Marathi

• Atmacharitra/Atmakathan/Swakathan

• Brief Intro of Selected Texts

Chapter Two :Mirrored Life

• Taine, Lucien Goldman, Digambar Padhye, Terry Eagleton, Lunachaski, Joseph Ruchek, and Leo Loventhal -Sociologists

• Casteism & Untouchabiltiy

• Poverty and Hunger

• Religion

• Worship & Superstition

• Rituals and Rites

• Life of Women

• Life in Villages versus Life in Cities

• Occupation

• Regional Element

• Panchayat

• Realism

• Struggle in Life

• Social Consciousness

• Writer as an Activist

Chapter Three

The Canvas of Life: Protagonist-Protagonists

• Robert Eskarpit has

described the personality of

an individual as the sum

total of influences exerted

by class, economic

problems, social security

and contemporary

conditions.

• Alan Swingwood too

concurs with Eskarpit.

• ‘I’ and ‘WE’

• An autobiography describes

the process from ‘being to

becoming’.

• Dalit self narratives being

authentic socio-cultural-

historical documents, all

their characters are drawn

form the real world.

• Three approaches -Physical

appearance, self-exposition,

and what others think of the

character

Characters

• ‘Flat’ and ‘round’

characters (Forster)

• Ewen-three continua or

axes: complexity,

development and

penetration into inner life

• Propp-Seven-based on

Spheres of Action

• Greimas-‘acteur’ and

‘actant’

• Narrational, explicit and

implicit, auto versus

altero characterization

• Foil characterization,

• Block characterization

• Use of confidant

• Direct and indirect

characterization

• Use of historical figures

as characters

Characters

• The protagonist, an ‘anti-hero’, appears as a symbol of Dalit consciousness, protest and rejection.

• He is first and foremost a representative of a community.

• Various methods of depiction of characters-

• Direct description by the author of appearance of mental activities,

• Descriptions of actions that indicate personality traits,

• Self revelation by quoting a character’s words about himself or herself

• Revelation by other people meaning indirect revelation by quoting what other people say about a character.

Characters• In Dalit autobiographies, many members of their social

groups, savarna characters, and social-historical figures are depicted. Due to the very concept of Dalit autobiographies as a genre of literature being different, a different kind of classification of characters has been attempted. These characters have been classified into three categories as marginalized, empowered and savarna characters. In the Indian social system, all Dalits are marginalized. Yet some of them have empowered themselves and are helping in empowering their community members.

• Autobiography wise detailed study of characters

Chapter Four

Quest for Identity

• The autobiography as a genre is a search for identity. Autobiography is a product as well as process of self exploration. The life narratives pose a question “Who am I?” And also provide an answer to “How did I become what I am?” The process of ‘becoming’ is very complex involving many factors.

• James Olney- autobiographies deal with the process from ‘being’ to ‘becoming.’

• ‘The coded imagery’ in the autobiography reveals much to carefree readers.

Quest for Identity

• Erikson -an identity crisis generally happens between infancy to adulthood.

• Self identity, according to him, is determined by the way in which a person resolves a series of life crises.

• Erikson -three components of self-identity.

• These are personal identity, group identity-the identity of the racial, ethnic, religious, or socio-economic group into which one is born, and ego-identity- an understanding of how one’s self reacts to the group.

Quest for Identity

• Different psychological theorists like George H. Mead, Charles H. Coolley, and A. Jerslid and others opine that self evolves through interaction with others.

• Gautam Buddha, Mahatma Phule, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar –Inspiration

• Buddhism

• Dr. Ambedkar-Ambedkarism

• Marxism

• Humanism

• Existentialism

Quest for Identity

• These autobiographies have been

further scrutinized to study the social,

cultural, religious, political, militant,

and economic identity of the

individual. A note on the identity

formation and motifs in Dalit

autobiographies also is an integral

part of the chapter.

Chapter 5

Direct form the Heart: Narrative Strategies

• Dalit Literature has been hailed as the voice of the voiceless.

• It substantiates that subalterns can speak.

• Bama- “The Dalits have different vocabulary and speech. ..The

Dalit should write as a Dalit. The Dalit’s writing should be

read like the Dalit’s.”

• Edward Sapir claims that ‘language is a guide to social reality.’

• Soviet Semiotician Juri Lotman has echoed the same

sentiments when he declares firmly that “No language can

exist unless it is steeped in the context of culture; and no

culture can exist which does not have at its center, the structure

of natural language.”

Narrative Strategies

• A through analysis of original Marathi texts and their

translations into English was made.

• The selected text has been studied to shed light on its title, its

symbolic connotations, its chapter-scheme, its beginning and

end, and division into different parts to facilitate its study. The

diction of a writer tells a great deal about the quality of

writer’s mind and style. A writer uses his words according to

the subject matter, occasion, purpose and audience.

• Kinds of sentences employed & ellipses

• Length of sentences

• Idioms/phrases/proverbs used

Narrative Strategies

• The language component of a Dalit

autobiography can be classified as follows:

• Words in the colloquial language

• Words used in the rural sector

• Words used by nomadic tribes like Kaikadi,

Pathruts, Kolhatis, etc.

• Words used by the Dalits

• Some English and other words

Narrative Strategies

• Abusive words, and typical Dalit words,

distorted pronunciation of English and Marathi

words, typical Marathi idioms and proverbs,

Dalit proverbs, idioms, and phrases, etc. have

been singled out. Strategies of code-mixing,

code-switching, borrowing and calque too

have been highlighted. A note on varied usages

and pronunciations has also been added.

Narrative Strategies

• Dalit autobiographies have been used umpteen

numbers of figures of speech in these self

narratives. These have been classified into

similes (similes too have been classified as

based on animal imagery, plant world, nature

similes, etc.), metaphors (their relevance and

significance has been underlined), allegories,

alliteration, and onomatopoeia, etc.

Narrative Strategies

• Episodic nature, writer’s fibula, use of action and dialogues, use of pidgin, heteroglossia, honorifics, appellations

• Various points of view,

• Use of punctuation marks and social deixis

• Humor, profuse use of myths, bardic effect, reality effect, use of techniques like flashback or flash forward, prestige symbols of the Dalits and Savarnas,

• A comment on the English translations of selected Dalit autobiographies is also added.

Chapter Six

Dalit and Black American Autobiographies-A Comparative

Statement

• Race Vs Caste-Note on the nature of slavery,

• Slave narratives and Black American narratives

• The concepts of race and caste are responsible for the ‘power’

equation in the Indian and American society.

• Selected Works- 32

• Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black

Folk (1903) Darkwaters (1920), and Dusk of Dawn,

Langston Hughes The Big Sea (1940), Richard Wright’s Black

Boy (1945), Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land

(1965), Amiri Baraka’s The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones

Amiri Baraka (1984) and Gordon Parks Voices in the Mirror

(1990).

• The similarities in the motifs, quest for identity and yearning

for human values has been discussed and commented upon.

Conclusion

• Qualitative as well as quantitative increase in the

number of Marathi Dalit autobiographies

• Withstood the test of time is an indisputable fact.

• The universal values expressed in Dalit

autobiographies have found an affinity with

literature of all marginalized people in the world.

• The term Dalit has acquired universal currency

and is winged with newer connotations since its

introduction ,

Conclusion

• Protest, agony, and rejection as its three-fold principles

• Depict ills in Indian Society-Universal Nature

• ‘I’ and ‘We’

• Development of Consciousness-Rejection & Negation-Education

• Empowered & Marginalized Characters-Human Status

• Influence of Ambedkarism & Conversion

Conclusion

• Enriched the vocabulary of Marathi with many Dalit words, idioms, and proverbs. Due to the limitations of the target language and difficulties in obtaining cultural synonymy, many Dalit expressions have found their way into English translations too. These Dalit autobiographers have used their dialects with frankness and openness to showcase their culture and traditions and to highlight their agony and protest. They have re-created and reinterpreted many Hindu myths.

• Problem of Nomenclature

Conclusion

• Black-American autobiographies too serve as socio-historical-cultural documents that acquaint readers with the harsh reality of their lives. These two geographically and culturally apart communities show a remarkable affinity in their motifs, quest for identity, and upholding of valueslike liberty, equality, fraternity, and social justice. Yet the problem of comparison of Dalit autobiographies with Black American autobiographies is a complex issue.

• Driving Spirit-Human Status, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Social Justice-Egalitarian & Equalitarian Society

Thank You