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Understanding Dalit Literature: A Critical Perspective Towards Dalit Aesthetics

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Priyanka Kumari1 & Dr. Maninder Kapoor2

1Research Scholar, NIT Jamshedpur, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. Email: priyanka.cuj@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7464-7080

2HOD NIT Jamshedpur, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. Email: mkapoor.hum@nitjsr.ac.in, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5859-3879

 Volume 13, Number 4, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n4.06

Abstract

Indian literature has always been governed by classical norms. Literature has been divided into ‘high culture’ and ‘low culture’. The non-Dalit writing revolves around ‘rasa’ and the motive is ‘art for art’s sake’. Dalit aestheticism is ‘art for life’s sake’. When certain forms and styles are applied imitating Sanskrit poetics, Shakespearean language or Aristotle’s ‘Poetics’, literature is considered to be following beauty parameters that are considered to be necessary for artistic pleasure. This kind of claim of holding traditional Indian aesthetics as a law book for all kinds of literature cannot be validated. The assertion of mainstream aesthetics as aesthetics for pan India is bound to exclude the truth of disregarded subjects. There is a need for Dalit literature to follow alternative aesthetics as the writings are the real story of pain and survival. How can pain be read for the purpose of pleasure? In the case of Dalit literature, the artistic yardsticks are not destroyed rather they are rejected. The traditional aesthetics will not be able to do justice with Dalit literature. Sharankumar Limbale writes “To assert that someone’s writing will be called literature only when ‘our’ literary standards can be imposed on is a sign of cultural dictatorship” (Limbale, 2004, p. 107). This paper will be an attempt to discuss the need for alternative aesthetics to understand Dalit literature.

Keywords: Aesthetics, identity, realism, hegemony, culture.

Entangled Histories: Gender and the Community Mobilisations of the Ezhavas in Colonial Kerala

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Kavyasree R

Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Women’s Studies, University of Hyderabad,

kavyasreeraghunath@gmail.com, ORCID id: 0000-0002-5399-7217

 Volume 13, Number 4, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n4.05

Abstract

This paper explores how transnational historical approaches towards gender can provide a fresh perspective to locate women’s histories of colonial India and how such enquiries can widen the scope of exploring the rich archival sources available. By bringing in the recent scholarship in the area of gender and transnatioanal history, this paper would demonstrate the possibilities to unearth complex and entangled histories of women by bringing to the discussion the community consolidation efforts of Ezhavas, an erstwhile untouchable caste in the colonial Kerala, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Focusing on the transnational character of the cultural and ideological transactions that shaped the Ezhava community mobilization in the wake of colonial transformations in the region, the paper would trace the specific ways in which such exchanges shaped the history of gender within the Ezhava movement. In doing so, this paper would point towards the need to go beyond both colonial and nationalist paradigms to unpack the intricate histories of gender, caste and regional social movements during the age of empire.

Keywords: Gender, Social Reform, Caste, Social Movement, Modernity, Transnational History

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Problematising Testimony in Autobiographical Narratives by Dalit Women in the English Translation

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Pratibha

Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia, and Assistant Professor, Sharda University. ORCID id: 0000-0001-5698-6612. Email: pratibhabiswas85@gmail.com, pratibha.biswas@sharda.ac.in.

 Volume 13, Number 4, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n4.04

Abstract

Dalit autobiographical narratives are widely and habitually being categorised by critics as testimonios or sociobiographies, with an implication to be understood as representative life-stories. Because of the genre’s perceived emphasis on ‘authenticity’, ‘representation of collective suffering’, and immanent connotations of being a political genre of speech for the marginalised, scholars/critics of Dalit literature have been applying the term testimonio to describe autobiographical narratives, which has inadvertently led to a normativisation of the available modi of ‘truth production’ about Dalit lived experiences.  The objective of this paper is to dispute the adulatory assessment of testimonio as a genre, by highlighting the instances where the relationship between the self and the community in autobiographical narratives by Dalit women appears uneasy, fraught with dissensus and problematic, when examined from a Dalit feminist standpoint. By looking into ways of reading agency in Karukku (2000), Sangati (2005), and Viramma, Life of an Untouchable (1997), beyond the true-false, victim-oppressor and Dalit-Savarna simplistic binaries, this paper enunciates the problematic implications of using the nomenclature testimonio for reading these autobiographical narratives translated in English. Further, it posits arguments for shifting the emphasis on the politics of language and narrative to avert the trappings of the genre.

Keywords: Dalit autobiographical narratives, testimonio, self and the community, Dalit feminism, literature and politics, Dalit literature in translation, translation and agency.

 

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The Nature and Concept of Meta-artistic Objects

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Benjamín Valdivia

Professor, Art, Architecture and Design, University of Guanjuato. E-mail: valdivia@ugto.mx

 Volume 13, Number 4, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n4.03

Abstract

This paper introduces two concepts useful for the understanding of current trends in art. One of them is the concept of meta-art, which is proposed here because of the perception that contemporary art goes beyond the traditional borders of art, transforming the aesthetic question (is it beauty?) to a more ontological question (what is it?). Diverse elements are identified at the borders of artistic expression, as the question starts to implicate the changes caused by the notion of the meta-artistic. The second concept deals with the other main category of judgement of art, which was formerly defined by beauty, and yet now gets displaced in the limits of the meta-artistic by another process that we call aesthetic impact. This given pair of theoretical instruments help in a better understanding the astonishing objects developed by the artists of our time.

Keywords: aesthetic impact, beauty, contemporary art, fragmentation, Meta-artistic, end of art.

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Summarizing Epic

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Frederick Turner

Founders Chair Professor (Former), School of Arts and Humanities, University of Texas at Dallas. Email: frederick.turner@gmail.com

 Volume 13, Number 4, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n4.02

Abstract

It is claimed that the literary humanities are profoundly compromised and may even be irrelevant, that the appeal of literature is quixotic and anachronistic at best. I argue that there is life in the old dog yet.  In the genre we set aside and dismissed, i.e., epic, the oldest one of all, may be found the revival of literary studies; and close by is the whole burgeoning, vital, and chaotic world of current popular epic, of big-screen action and fantastic cybernetic games, that sorely needs a rooting and a clarifying guide.

 Keywords: Epic, Gaming, Storyteller, Theory

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The Ideological Limits of Digital Poetics

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Tirtha Prasad Mukhopadhyay

Professor and Research Fellow, University of Guanajuato, Mexico. Email: chiefeditor@rupkatha.com

 Volume 13, Number 4, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n4.01

 Abstract

Digital poetics has emerged as a genre following the development of machine augmented literatures. An algorithm could generate transient but successful emotive appraisals that characterize human poetry. Production of cybertext is enabled by the presence of advanced Anglophone Synset compilations, text summarization and development-constrained specifics of the corpora. Digital poetics in regional non-Anglophone languages thus remain marginalized owing to language dependency across the world’s media divide. Whereas such hierarchies are inevitable in a technologically divided world the recognition of these problems and logical solutions may help foment innovation, entrepreneurship and affirmative opportunities for underdeveloped economies.

Keywords: Digital Poetics, Cybertext, Hypertext,  Indowordnet

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What is Performance Studies?

Richard Schechner Tisch School of the Arts, New York University  Download PDF Version Because performance studies is so broad-ranging and

Transnational Spaces in Amitav Ghosh’s The Circle of Reason

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Ajay K. Chaubey

Assistant Professor (English) & Head, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Uttarakhand, India. ORCID ID 0000-0002-6413-798. Email: kcajay79@gmail.com.

Volume 13, Number 3, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n3.43

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Abstract

This essay maps the unmapped nuances of transnational/cultural spaces in Amitav Ghosh’s debut novel, The Circle of Reason (1986; 2008) which underscores the inter-territorial itinerary of Alu, the protagonist, who after being accused of being a terrorist, runs from Lalpukur, near Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Goa to Al-Ghazira, a fictional gulf-state and finally to Algeria. The novel, Bildungsroman in nature and thematic treatment, poignantly deals with James Clifford’s idea of ‘assimilation’ (of) / ‘travelling’ cultures, geo-political boundaries and hybridization of language. The rationale of the paper is to deconstruct the binaries—tradition and modernity; oriental and occidental cultures; and emigration and immigration, which are, to me, the themes of the narrative of the novel. Ghosh has dexterously intertwined the cultural matrix of different spaces in the novel to show how in this age of mobility, open economy and transnational migration, transcultural awareness is all to value.  This essay also traces the trajectory of mobility in the age of fluidity and underpins patterns of movement which affect cultural orientations, sensibilities, and, consequentially, creative expressions.

Keywords: Spatial shifting, Homi K Bhabha, James Clifford, and multiple identities.

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Semiotic Analysis of Petroglyph «Ancient Turks and the Mother Goddess Umay/Umai»

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Tatiev E.E.1, Yesim G.2, Sarkulova M.S.3, Mukataeva A. A.4 & Tatieva M. E.5

1Doctoral student at the Eurasian National University named after L. N. Gumilyov, St. Satpayev 2, Nur-Sultan, 010008, Republic of Kazakhstan E-mail: ertisuly82@mail.ru https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6368-1251

2Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Eurasian National University named after L. N. Gumilyov, St. Satpayev 2, Nur-Sultan, 010008, Republic of Kazakhstan Email: garifollaesim@mail.ru https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4001-9235

3Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Eurasian National University. L. N. Gumilyov, St. Satpayev 2, Nur-Sultan, 010008, Republic of Kazakhstan Email: manifa.s@mail.ru https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5992-2814

4Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor of the “Shakarim Semey University”, St. Glinka, 20 “a”, Semey, 071412, Republic of Kazakhstan Email: aizat720804@mail.ru https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9046-9256

5Master of the “ShakarimSemey University”, st. Glinka, 20 “a”, Semey, 071412, Republic of Kazakhstan Email: tatieva_me@mail.ru https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2365-8123

Volume 13, Number 3, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n3.42

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Abstract

The study of historical artifacts from a scientific point of view is acknowledged in the literature. A clear understanding of our historical roots is connected with the study of cultural heritage from empirical and especially quantitative bases of research already done by scholars like Rudenko (1927) and Gavrilova (1965). Yet, another important method of studying historical material objects is semiotic analysis, which allow studying prehistorical visual culture artifacts as a system of signs, which may be deciphered, and related to deducible meaning and sense in the context of ethnographic, cultural and specifically semiotic references which bear on location, identification and understanding of such material. Our research in this article is dedicated to a study of certain visual material artifacts from the geographical region of the Eastern Altai. In particular, we study petroglyphs on a boulder that was discovered during the excavations of the Kudyrge burial ground near the Chulyshman River, which according to some sources belong to the Turkic culture of the early period, and have recently begun to arouse the interest of scientists. Various empirical methods have been used to explore the stone monument (statue) called “Kudyrginsky plot”. Some of the techniques as those of pioneering research scholars like Rudenko and Gavrilova, include archaeological, historical, historical-chronological, historical-comparativemethods, as well as approaches including analysis and synthesis of the obtained data. In turn we supplement the existing methodological approaches with a semiotic-ethnographic analysis of the information available on the “Kudyrginsky plot”. We argue that semiotic analysis of ancient artifacts, following methods established by Reday (2019) and Martel (2020), can offer adequate information for the understanding of a rich historical heritage sight like the Kudyrginskyplot.

Keywords: Altai, Central Asia, Petroglyph, Semiotics, Tengri, Visual Artifact Augmentation

By Me Shall He Be Nursed! Queer Identity and Representation in The Mahabharata

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Seema Sinha1 & Kumar Sankar Bhattacharya2

1Ph. D from BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Rajasthan. Email: p2015101@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in

2Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Rajasthan. Email: kumar.bhattacharya@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in

Volume 13, Number 3, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n3.36

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The Mahabharata is a treasure-trove of the cultural memories of the Hindus. The grand Epic has entertained and edified our society through its numerous identity-relevant narratives since time immemorial. The longevity of The Mahabharata lies in its capacity to adapt, adopt and re-fashion the account, which grants endless opportunities of initiating open-ended debate. The grand Epic has shaped our values and shared a template by which a life guided by Dharma is to be lived. The dialogic text continues to contribute to the resolution of our emotional angst and existential dilemmas. Much ahead of its times, the Epic revels in the liminality that is apparent in the narratives of the gender-queer people who are an integral part of its culture-scape. This paper seeks to study two liminal figures in the Epic narrative – Shikhandi, the trans-gender Prince of Panchala, and Yuvanashwa, the pregnant King, who swayed between gendered identities and challenged the hegemonic heteronormative sexual framework, thereby opening avenues of conversation related to marginalization, resistance and empowerment. The paper also examines the queer cases of King Sudyumna and King Bhangashwan, who questioned the symbolic binaries of gender and delineated a horizon of possibilities. The aim here is to measure the resistance of the genderqueer against the prescriptive order of subjectivities and assess the impact and the outcome. Drawing from the deconstructivist and the queer theories, the study foregrounds the trauma and the resistance of the marginal. These narratives establish The Mahabharata as one of the earliest texts to have a meaningful discourse in the queer-space.

 Keywords: Genderqueer, cultural memories, liminal, hegemonic, heteronormative, trauma, resistance

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Atypical Athletic Corporeality and Clinical Embodied Deviance: A Case Study of Dutee Chand

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Isha Malhotra1& Raj Thakur2

1Assistant Professor and Head in the School of Languages and Literature, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, UT of J&K, India. Email: isha.malhotra@smvdu.ac.in

2Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Central University of Jammu, UT of J&K, India. Email: raj.eng@cujammu.ac.in

 Volume 13, Number 3, 2021 I Full-Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n3.41

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The paper outlines the politics of gendered athleticism appropriated and instrumentalised through the medico-juridical apparatus of the sports governing bodies.  The biomedical discourse governing the atypical athletic body and the embodied nature of its pathologised deviancy is drawn through the critical reflection of athletic regulatory bodies’ testing regimes and policies. It is through the detailed analysis of the Indian sprinter Dutee Chand’s case that one of many confounding disqualification charges and trials of hyperandrogenism against athletes with differences of sex development (DSD’s) is foregrounded. Drawing on the critical scholarship of gender theorists and activists, the legitimacy of the stipulated biological mechanism of testosterone as a regulatory performance index in female elite sport is contested and problematized. Pertinent here is Dutee Chand’s narrative of trial and triumph that destabilises the reductive embodiments of sex institutionalised in and beyond the sporting track.  Significantly, the paper also delineates the premises of the constitutive exclusionary and arbitrary regulatory regimes propounded by the athletic governing bodies like the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). These concerns border on the geopolitics of race and nation framing the normative, prescriptive and reserved rights of femininity, able-bodiedness and heteronormativity in international women’s elite sport.

Keywords: DSDs, sport, gender, medicine, sex testing, regulation, heteronormativity

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