The silenced voices of the Dalits find expression in this critique of the novels that are written by them in Malayalam. Dr. S. R. Chandramohanan brings to this analysis a freshness and commitment that is rare in any such critical text. A very comprehensive reading of the novels has been attempted and a historical period of over fifty years in the lives of Dalits is identified through the writings, which begin with the first novel written in 1960 by T. K. C. Vadutala.
This collection of essays is an original contribution to the body of writing that is coming out today in the attempt to retrace the history of a group of people who were close to the soil and had their own rites and rituals. The novels of Vadutala, Paul Chirackarodu, S. E. James, Karikkam Rajan, D. Rajan, Perumbalam Madhavan, Narayan, Kaviyoor Murali, Manganam Kuttappan, Raghavan Atholi, P. A. Uthaman and others come in for close critical study. Dr. Chandramohanan's analysis is both thematically focused and ideologically analytical. The characterization and narrative techniques, used in centering the experiences of the Dalits, are studied from a theoretical perspective. The surfacing of the subaltern and the rich experiences and stories that were a part of their lives come alive in this critical study.
Dr. Chandramohanan has devoted each chapter to trace in detail the novels of the writers identified, as also the lesser known novelists. What is significant about this work is that it is very comprehensive and it offers an indepth study. As such, it is a must read for those interested in Dalit experiences and writings.
The novel tradition, that was new to Malayalam literature, emerged as a powerful genre during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The pioneering works of fiction like those of Mrs. Collins's Ghataka Vadham (The Slayer Slain), Arch Deacon Koshy's Pulleli Kunchu, Potheri Kunjambu's Saraswathy Vijayam (Victory of Saraswathy) and Joseph Muliyil's Sukumari, written within a span of two decades (1877-97) feature Dalit characters, and the novelists treat their problems with sympathy and understanding. The Jivat Sahitya Samiti, started in 1937, and its new incarnation, the Progressive Literature Association, followed the tradition of foregrounding the issues of the Dalit communities, but the members of the Association viewed Dalits only as part of the proletariat and wrote with a clear political agenda overlooking the centrality of caste in their discourses. Writers like Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and Keshava Dev dealt with the socio-political situation of the times and their attempt to relate literature with contemporary problems had a salutary impact on the novel.
Thakazhi's novels like Randidangazhi (Two Measures) and Thottiyude Makan (Son of Scavenger) and Cherukad's Manninte Maaril (On the Breast of the Earth) tried to place the poor-rich dichotomy within the Marxist doctrine of the class struggle, keeping at bay the caste contradictions that characterize the Indian society. It cannot be denied that the writers of the Progressive School failed to look into the complex caste issue from a Dalit standpoint. For them casteism is the result of oppression unleashed by imperialism and capitalism, and until very recent times, they were hesitant to acknowledge caste as a major social evil that eats up the vitals of Indian society. The Communist Party leaders even today maintain that "the caste system is only the roof of economic foundation" (Bobby Thom-as 19), so that in the hands of these writers, the novel became a purely western transplantation and none of them tried to evolve an indigenous form of prose narration which could explain the existing social situation. They popularized a mode of writing known as socialist realism, but it failed miserably to capture the sordid reality of Dalit life in all its dimensions. More importantly, their attitude towards the Dalits was paternalistic. Dalits are represented in their fiction as helpless victims who are in need of saviours to rid themselves of the trammels of slavery and untouchability. They also ignored the crucial question of the identity formation of the Dalits and quite often placed the Dalits not at the centre but at the periphery of their discourses. According to K. K. Kochu, "The major defect of this kind of writing is that it recreates the conditions of life of the people at the bottom in a conventional manner" (Vaayanayude 50). This is the background in which novelists belonging to Dalit com-munities like T. K. C. Vadutala and Paul Chirackarodu started their literary career with a view to depicting the inner reality of Dalit experience.
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