Understanding Dalit Literature: A Critical Perspective Towards Dalit Aesthetics

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 style 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 kind of literature cannot be validated. The assertion of mainstream aesthetics as aesthetics for pan India is bound to exclude truth of disregarded subjects. There is 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 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.