LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 16:3 March 2016
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2015
M. S. Thirumalai
Custom Search

From Silence to Shriek:
Dalit Writer Valmiki’s Work Joothan

Shweta Chaudhary, M.A. English, NET


Abstract

In this paper, the argument hovers around the presentation of poignant tales of people who suffer because of their birth in the lower caste communities meant for the service of and for receiving the abuses of the upper caste. Valmiki, a noted Dalit writer, hails Dalit literature as the portrayal of the wishes & aspiration of oppressed and tormented Dalits (Chakraborty 182).

This paper focuses on the development of silence into shrieks with special reference to Valimiki’s work Joothan, an autobiographical narrative that sketches out the suffering and inhumane treatment meted out to Dalits and all such downtrodden.

Keywords: lower caste, the downtrodden, denigration of Dalits, silent suffering.

Trauma of the Downtrodden

The entire trauma of these downtrodden people, whose erstwhile deafening silence culminated into deafening shrieks, stems from their birth in the lower caste whose profession was to clean and sweep animal dung and human filth or to do jobs involving menial, unpleasant tasks (taking off the skins of dead animals and so on). In practical terms, untouchability is based on this profession.1

The utmost necessity and urgency to pay attention to the pain and endless tears of these downtrodden people motivated reformists and even victims to register their presence and project their pain.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Shweta Chaudhary, M.A. (Eng.), NET
367/18 Civil Lines Near Rajiv Chowk
Gurgaon 122001
Haryana
India
shweeta13@gmail.com
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.