Representations and Discursive Formations of Caste: A Theoretical Framework

This chapter deals with issues of caste, discourses, and representation that examine how caste as an ideological institution is inscribed through caste-specific narratives or literatures. It argues how caste, as a concrete and hierarchical structure, is entrenched and perpetuated in various ways; and how literature acts as an ideological tool in maintaining and contesting caste power through representational practices. It begins by analysing how representations of the non-Brahmin, the Dalit Other in the Brahmin-centric narratives like Panchatantra or Puranas appear as insignificant, subordinated, and trivial. Then, it examines how such representational practices are challenged, questioned, and disrupted by radical Indian thinkers like Jotirao Phule and B.R. Ambedkar. Lastly, it outlines how normative representational practices about Dalit life and personality can be contested tracing the evolution of Dalit representations vis-a-vis the Phule-Ambedkarite tradition of counter-representational practices with reference to works like Phule’s Gulamgiri, Mukta Salve’s “Mang Maharachya Dukhavishayi Nibandh,” Ambedkar’s analysis of K. S. Thakare’s play Khara Bramhan, and Baburao Bagul’s short story “Vidroh.” This charts out the theoretical framework for analysing the selected novels.