Aspirations and Entanglements of the “Child of Modern India”: A Legacy of Deprivation in M R Anand’s Untouchable

Renaissance Ahmed Sayma

Abstract


Mulk Raj Anand’s ground-breaking debut novel Untouchable has successfully pictured the dreadful condition of the downtrodden outcastes who live in an ‘other space’ devoid of access to the minimum essential rights that might identify them as human species. Their position in Indian caste-ridden society is determined by the limitations of power, delights, and aspirations enjoyed by the caste Hindus living in the spaces under whose shadow they are doomed to live. This paper aims at examining the aspirations and uplifting strategy of the novel’s protagonist Bakha who, despite having promising youth and potentiality, fails to voice against the social deprivation. Being focused on personal interests and aspirations, the sweeper boy mistakenly falls into the victim of dominant discourses of political elites. He ultimately gets confused regarding personal as well as collective emancipation. The paper also argues that along with the abysmal narration of the life of the Untouchables, the novelist has also documented their aspirations that may wither away in the coming days of modern India.

Keywords


Social Uplifting, Aspirations, Modernisation, Caste System, Nationalism, Duality

Full Text:

PDF

References


Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. New Delhi: Penguin, 2001. Print.

Anand, Mulk Raj. “The Story of My Experiment with a White Lie.” Indian Literature, vol. 10, no. 3, 1967, pp. 36, 38. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23329161.

Christopher, KW. "Cast (e) Ing Narrative: Caste, Class and Religion in Mulk Raj Anand's Untouchable”. Interventions, vol. 17, no. 1, 2015, pp 64-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369801X.2014.888011

Cowasjee, Saros. “Mulk Raj Anand: Princes and Proletarians.” The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, vol. 3, no. 1, Mar 1968, pp 52-64. https://doi.org/10.1177/002198947000500106

Cowasjee, Saros. Ed. Mulk Raj Anand Omnibus: Untouchable, Coolie, Private Life of an Indian Prince. New Delhi: Viking, 2004. Print.

De Diego Gonzalez, Antonio. "Pániker, Austin: La sociedad de castas. Religión y política en la India." Raphir: revista de Antropología y Filosofía de las Religiones 1 (2014): 103-104.

George, CJ. Mulk Raj Anand: His Art and Concerns, New Delhi: Atlantic, 2008.Print.

Iyengar, K.R.Srinivasa. Indian Writings in English. Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1962, p 332. Print.

Kumar, Arun. Social Transformation in Modern India, New Delhi, Sarup & Sons Book Publishers,2001. Print.

Kumar, Vijay. “Marginalization in Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable." SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH [Online], vol. V, no. XI, 2017, pp 902-909. https://ijellh.com/OJS/index.php/OJS/article/view/2808.

Nagrecha, Smita. "Untouchable—the Dawn of the Excluded." Perspectives on Indian English Fiction, edited by Dr. Jaydipsinh K. Dodiya, Sarup & Sons, 2006, pp 52-59. Print.

Newar, Sanjeev. “There is no caste-system in Vedas”. Agniveer, 8 March 2010, http://agniveer.com/caste-system/

Regmi, Bhim Nath. "Economic Adversity and Disgrace in Untouchable." NUTA Journal, vol. 5, no.1-2, 2018, pp 40-47. https://doi.org/10.3126/nutaj.v5i1-2.23455

Srinivas, M.N. “Caste in Modern India.” The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 16, no. 4,1957, pp. 529-548. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2941637.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.9n.4p.55

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2012-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD

International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature

To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the journal emails into your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.