Paper- 201 Assignment

 Paper- 201 Assignment

Karana ,The Subltern character

Name-Kishan Jadav

Paper- Indian English Literature-Pre Independence

Roll no-10

Enrollment no-3069206420200008

Email id- jadavkishan55555@gmail.com

Batch-2020-22 (MA Sem-III)

Submitted to- S. B. Gardi Department of English,

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

 

Introduction :

The word ‘Subaltern’ stands for ‘of inferior rank’ or status. Subordinate, hence, of rank, power, authority and action. In other words, it refers to the subordination of class, caste, gender, race, language and culture. It also indicates to those groups in society who are subject to the domination of the ruling classes.In general, subaltern classes include peasants, workers and other groups who have been denied access to ‘hegemonic’ power. The terms subaltern and subaltern studies entered the vocabulary of post-colonial studies through the works of the Subaltern Studies Group of historians.

Concept of Subaltern :

Subaltern means Someone with a low ranking in a social, political and other hierarchy or it can also mean someone who has been Marginalised. “Basically it is a technical term Based on deconstruction. Depict through the cast, race, class, age etc..“Subaltern cannot speak” Postcolonialism is the study of the after effects of colonialism and imperialism.” The major conflict is about whether the nation’s have actually come out of the colonial influence or not.

Emergence theory of Subaltern Antonio Gramsci :

Italian Marxist, best known for his elaboration of the concept of 'hegemony'. A founder of the Italian communist party (in 1921), he was imprisoned by the Fascists in 1926, and spent the remainder of his life under arrest. While in prison, and despite poor health, he continued to study and write. The Prison Notebooks (1929— 1935), published only after the fall of Fascism, represent the core of his considerable contribution to Marxist theory. (Edgar) subaltern, meaning “of inferior rank”, is a term adopted by Antonio Gramsci to refer to those working class people in Soviet Union who are subject to the hegemony of the ruling classes. Subaltern classes may include peasants, workers and other group denied access to hegemonic power.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak theory of Subaltern :

Emergence theory of Subaltern Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (Born-1942) is an Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic. She is a University Professor at Columbia University. She is the co- founder of Institute for Comparative Literature and Society. She is considered as one of the most influential postcolonial intellectuals.The concept of the “subaltern” gained increased prominence and currency with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s article Can the Subaltern Speak?(1985) According to Spivak, the subaltern cannot speak. She opines that the subaltern does not have a voice. It was a commentary on the work of the Subaltern Studies Group, questioning and exposing their patronizing attitude.

Spivak in her assay Can the subaltern speak? Writes…. The Subaltern cannot speak. There is no virtue in global laundry lists with woman a pious.Representation has not withered away. The female intellectual has a circumscribe task which she must not disown with a flourish.This is however not to say that physical act of speaking is impossible from within the subaltern position. Post Colonial literature persistently generated an enormous literature, especially by literary critics, feminists, art of critics, social reformists, political scientists and political economists.

Subaltern Studies :-

Subaltern Studies initiated its remarkable work in England from the end of 1970s, during discussions on subaltern themes among a small group of English and Indian historians led to a plan to launch a new journal in India. Oxford University Press in New Delhi agreed to publish three volumes of essays titled ‘Subaltern Studies: Writings on South Asian History and Society.’ From 1982 edited by Ranajit Guha.  The first and foremost leader of this literary movement was Ranajit Guha who had written on peasant uprisings in India. Much of the collective's early work dealt with the politics of peasants who had been involved in the mass movements that ultimately led to India's independence.  The member of the subaltern studies group were Shahid Amin, David Arnold, Partha Chatterjee, David Hardiman, Dipesh Chakrabarty and Gyanendra Pandey.

Karan as subaltern :-

Originally he was known as a “Sutaputra” major character in the Hindu Epic. Like Ekalavya, Dronacharya denied to taught him Parshurama taught him but when he comes to know that he is not Brahmin At that time Parshurama curse to forgot everything because he was Kshatriya. It is said that whatever is not described in the Mahabharata does not exist, even the Ramayana and all the Puraanas are summarized in this epic. The greatest of all Puraanas, the Srimad Bhagavata Maha Puraana are present there in Mahabharata. There are so many characters in the great epic Mahabharata but Karna comes across as the most evocative one. One cannot but be awed by his towering personality and sheer strength of character, and at the same time help to identify oneself with the moments of frailty in his tragic life. It is the realistic mix of nuances that makes Karna such a credible and lifelike character. The intriguing story of a hero who despite being born to royalty was brought up lovingly by a lowly charioteer and his wife, his whole life was one great struggle against cruel destiny and all the odds placed in his way by the inequities of his time. In the process, he blazed a new trail glory, emerging as the greatest epitome of Purushakaara (Manly Effort), with tremendous achievements both as a man and also as a warrior... The more we research about the epic more convinced we became about Karna the unsung hero of Mahabharata who never gets his due. Most of us understand the Mahabharata as the story of a great war- revolving around the Pandavas, how they suffered at the hands of their cousins, and how they were protected at every stage by Shri Krishna. But we always ignore the fact that the eldest Pandava was Karna who could never got his due. How unfortunate and tragic it is that he actually had to be associated with the very enemies of the Pandavas and how he himself bore this burden and still continued to behave as an exemplary hero, committed to fulfilling his pledged duty. He will perhaps always be remembered more as a loyal friend of Duryodhana and less as the eldest Pandava or the eldest son of Kunti. The story of Karna begins with the misfortune of his secret birth and unfolds itself amidst the unremitting gloom of injustice and insult. At every stage in his life he had to endure immense hardships and yet never did he deter from the path of righteousness. But then, he gets no credit for his greatness, particularly when he was surrounded by evil on account of his friendship with Duryodhana and company. Born out of wedlock to Kunti and Surya, the Sun God, Karna is abandoned by his mother at birth, a self made-hero whose lot was to contend with the myriad unfortunate interventions of the fate against him.

            

        The intriguing story of a hero who despite being born to royalty was cast away by his mother brought up lovingly by a lowly charioteer and his wife, his whole life was one great struggle against cruel destiny and all the odds placed in his way by the inequities of his time. On the psychological front, the stigma of his perceived lineage never left him. It required Adhiratha his father, to quote him the equally tragic story of Ekalavya to bring him out of depression into which Guru Dronacharya’s rejection for his enrolment for higher studies had pushed him. His psyche again suffered a setback when he was debarred from the tournament on the basis of his lineage, despite being the best performer of the day. Another big shock came his way in the Swayamvara of Draupadi. The biggest ambition of any warrior is to display his powers in battle. But cruel fate even denied him that privilege when he was forced to sit out of the Kurukshetra war for the first ten days. He might have looked normal from the outside but his inner personality was surely impacted by these and many other tragedies. Rejected and insulted by society at every step, he developed some flaws engendered by a defiant spirit and nurtured by association with the devil designs of Duryodhana, his benefactor prince. But those very things seem to enhance and enliven the appeal of his character.

Conclusion :-

 At every stage in his life he had to endure immense hardships and yet, never did he deter from the path of righteousness. The various sacrifices he made were only one aspect of his towering, though complex personality. Sometimes it was hard to believe to what extent he could drive himself to adhere to his principles of not sending back anybody empty-handed from his presence. His commitment to his principles generosity was so strong that he knew that he was virtually giving away his own life to Indra in the shape of his armor and earrings despite having been warned beforehand by Surya-deva, his divine father. In another instance, he broke the sandalwood panels of his own palace for charity, when he could not otherwise procure the sandalwood demanded by an old Brahmin. Before him, all of the Kaurava, as well as Pandava princes, including Arjuna, had pleaded helplessness in meeting the Brahmin’s request because of the non-availability of sandalwood in Hastinapura. The commitment to his principles was so deeply embedded in his psyche that he could not breach the same even in the thick of battle and in his worst nightmares. Overall, all thismade him a unique personality with no parallel among his contemporaries. Therefore Karna can be considered undoubtedly as the unsung hero of the Mahabharata.

Citation :

Khangai, Ravi. (2020). Recasting the Epical Character; Karna, the Subaltern hero in Dinkar's 'Rashmirathi'. VI. 486-498.

MORRIS, ROSALIND C., editor. Can the Subaltern Speak?: Reflections on the History of an Idea. Columbia University Press, 2010, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/morr14384.

Prakash, Gyan. “Subaltern Studies as Postcolonial Criticism.” The American Historical Review, vol. 99, no. 5, [Oxford University Press, American Historical Association], 1994, pp. 1475–90, https://doi.org/10.2307/2168385.