Canon and ContestTelugu Dalit Literature1

Dr. P. Kesava Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department ofPhilosophy, Pondicherry University pkesav@gmail.com

Introduction

The Telugu literary discourses canonized Gurajada as the firstmodernist writer and Sri Sri as the trend setter of progressive literature (bothAbhyudaya and Viplava kavitvam) by declaring that this is the era of Sri Sri.These canonical constructions are contested by dalitintellectuals in the wake of contemporary dalit movement as theirstruggles against caste hegemony and brahminism. They even pittedGurram Jashua against these two as a canonical figure. Dalitliterature has not only been contesting the dominant canons ofTelugu literature but also making a canon of its own. Indefining, evaluating and production of the literature, canonplays a crucial role. Canon sets the standards of literature.Canon acts as an official specification of texts, authors andgenres. Canons play a decisive role either in inclusion orexclusion of the author, text or genre. The old canons are beingreplaced by the new with the rise of social movements. Canon hasbeen shaped by social, political and ideological forces. Makingcanons is a way of defining who has the power to speak and whodoes not.

From nineteen eighties onwards Dalit movement has emerged asan alternative autonomous movement with its own philosophicalpremises. Ambedkar is the source of inspiration for dalitstruggles towards the annihilation of caste and emancipation ofdalits. These struggles have changed the world view and so thediscourse of telugu literature. Dalit intelligentsia, especiallywriters engaged in revisiting/ re-reading the telugu literatureby demanding new principles of literature in understand theirknowledge/literary and cultural production. In this process dalit

1 This paper was published Dalit Movement and Literature; Emerging Issues and Challenges

, (edited by B.Krishnaiah) Prestige books, 2011.

literature got the attention of public for its distinctivenessand politics of change. Dalit literature has emerged as a newliterary genre in telugu. On one hand, representation andauthenticity of literature has become issue for debate, and onthe other hand, brahminical and progressive (abhyudaya/viplava)literatures and its writers are under scrutiny by dalitliterature. The brahminical literature has a reverence for pastand tradition, upholds the values of Hinduism. This is very wellevident in classical and contemporary writings in variousflavors. The progressive literature is influenced by Marxism iscritical about tradition/religion and being a realistic, aims atclassless society. The writers of this kind had been ruthlesslycritical about past and the literature becomes monotonous in thehand of upper caste middle class writers. Against both of theseviews, dalit literature is reclaiming the critical past and theindigenous traditions which had the democratic potential asAmbedkar upholds.

Dalit literature has brrn effectively mediating the oral andwritten cultures than any other literary canon. It has changedthe style, content and language of literature remarkably andtouched the concrete life experiences of oppressed masses. Inmaking its own literary genre by contesting the other, dalitliterature too has undergone remarkable transformation over aperiod of time. The questions such as, ‘Who is dalit?’, ‘What is dalitliterature?’ have generated continuous debates among dalitcircles. Simultaneously, the political category of dalit has gotnew articulation with further concrete identity (sub caste) suchas Madiga/Mala/Dekkali. This has been reflecting in literaturetoo. In other words, the emerged canon of dalit literature hasbeen contesting from within. My paper explores the ideology ofthe dalit literature in the back drop of ongoing dalit movementsby mapping prominent discourses of dalit writings.

Dalit Literature in Colonial Times Dalit struggles in Telugu society had created a groundfor dalit literature. Though, first generation dalit writers suchas Jashua, Boyi Bhemanna, Kusuma Dharmanna, Bhagyareddy verma,Jala Rangaswamy, Nakka Chinavenkaiah had an attempt to write

about the problems of dalits and brahminical exploitation, theywere not marked as a distinctive literary genre till recenttimes. Adapa Satyanarayana in his paper Dalit Protest literature inTelugu: A Historical Perspective discussed the historical context of theemergence of a literary genre which reflected the growingidentity, awareness and consciousness of the dalits during thecolonial period. Although there was no literary genredistinctively known as ‘dalit literature’ during the pre-independence period in Andhra, an examination of the literaryworks, i.e., poems, novels, plays, etc, of certain dalitintellectuals indicates that the oppression, agony and anger ofthe dalit masses is reflected in their writings. These writers,who found an inexhaustible raw material in the society andcommunity in which they and the masses were born, shaped it intoa realistic literary representation. The main characteristicfeature of dalit literature was its contemporaneity and realisticpresentation. He further argued that dalit writers internalizedthe philosophical and ideological tradition of Bhakti saint poetsand liberation ideology and philosophy of Phule and Ambedkar, butit is not the case with savarna writer engaged in writing aboutdalits . Satyanarayana concludes that dalit intellectuals of thepre-independence period were the forerunners to the contemporarydalit literary and cultural movements in the state.1 One has todebate why the dalit writings of colonial period had goneunnoticed and the conditions that were not recognized as a genreof dalit literature. However, from the late eighties dalitliterature has emerged as a distinctive literary genre in telugu.The recognition of this as distinctive literature in publicdiscourse has to be read with a changing historical and socio-political context. The following questions may provide insightsin making of a dalit literary genre. What kinds of writings aremarked as dalit literature? How are they different from othersin terms of style, language and content? What is the response ofthe upper caste writers to whom the dalit writers are oftencontesting?

The Telugu Literary Genres In exploring the emergence of literary genre of dalit

literature, Velchuri Narayana Rao’s philosophical frame work usedin Kavita Viplava Swarupalu in understanding and evaluating the teluguliterary canons and its historical transformation may be helpfulto an extent. He argues that literature is celebrated only withwritten literature by marginalizing oral literature (orature) anddalit literary criticism. Though the literates /elites approachedoral literature in the name of folklore, peoples literature, desiliterature out of their concern but not inaugurated the realessence of this literature. He broadly identified the traditionof aasu literature from likhita(written ) literature withrespective social groups. As the oral tradition is thepredominant feature of lower castes and illiterates and thewritten literature is of literates- Brahmins and other uppercaste groups. In aasu literary tradition the activity of speakingand writing are spontaneous. The poet writes while singing andsings while writing. The spoken language enlivens in literature.It is spontaneous act. Until the influence of printing machine,both literate Brahmins and illiterate dalits (mala and madiga)continued in the tradition of aasu sahityasm with a specificityof their own. However, historically, written traditionestablished its upper hand over oral tradition.

Literature is standardized with writing. With writtenculture, the differences in social status have even extended tothe production of knowledge systems. The literature of uppercastes becomes hegemonic.2 Narayanarao further explains thetransformation of telugu literary genre from ancient to moderntimes. Nannaya is popularly known as Adikavi (first poet), who isthe first writer in written literary tradition. The writing ofNannaya is puranic and influenced by Sanskrit literary tradition.The puranic poet is Brahmin but the writing is intended forordinary people. The poetic narration is different from oraltradition of lower castes. The puranic tradition is followed byprabandha literary genre from 16th century. The prabhadh poet is acontinuation of brahminic poet. The poet gave more importance tonarration than a story line. The poet was dependent on the Royalcourt and his writings are full of sringara rasa. The writing has

a great influence of aesthetics of Sanskrit. Prabandha poet oftenplays with words and lost the social importance. In the age ofprabandha too, some poets of lower castes belonging to sudra andartisan communities resisted this kind of literature and sidewith people. The poets such as Yogi Vemana and subalternphilosopher saint Potuluri Veerabrahmendra swamy are prominentamong them. The dominant literary tradition fails to see them assignificant writers. But their literature is popular among massesthrough social memory even today.

Modern telugu literature emerged with the influence ofliberal English education. The ideas of social reformism ofHinduism articulated through ‘modern’ literature. GurujadaApparao was considered Navya Kavitha Yuga Kartha (the firstmodernist writer in telugu). As Velchuri argues Gurajada’sborrows from to aasu tradition (oral tradition) and his poetry ismodern. It seems Gurajada had no relation to the aasu traditionof lower castes. But the language and chandassu from the aasutradition of upper castes which is mostly available in keerthana’sand womens’ songs.3 Philosophically Gurujada’s modernity couldnot be equated with ‘contemporarity’. He is critical of traditionfrom realistic perspective that internalized the socialconsciousness consisting of progressive values. He carried onhis writing with novelty (navya kavita reeti).It is interestingto note that the targeted readers of Gurujada is educated middleclass. As Velchuri felt that the potential of Gurujada was notfully realized by the educated class who are carried by thetradition of written literary culture.

Romantic literature (bhava kavitvam) which is othermodern literary movement of 1920-40 is also a protest againsttradition. This poetry is self centered and imaginary rather thanrealistic. The poet is in search of freedom and going back tonature. It is a declaration of one’s own self experience throughpoetry. Philosophically, the romantic poetry created a ground foran independent identity for a man from a traditional identitysuch as caste, occupation, and kinship roles in feudal society.It is realized later that ‘freedom’ had no meaning in runningaway from the real world. The conditions are forced to considerthe material conditions in realizing a freedom.

Abhyudaya sahityam is a revolt against the classical andromantic literature. It had changed the canons of teluguliterature by adopting the principles of Marxism in persuasion ofclassless society. The writers of this literary genre arecompelled to take side of laborers, the productive class againstthe feudal lords and capitalists, the exploiting class. Thisliterature claims to be realistic and the literary criticism isfocused on the content. As Velchuri observed ideologically thismodern literature differentiates itself from the classicalliterature, but in terms of language, it was not a complete breakfrom classical literature. The modern romantic poetry adopted thepuanic symbols to the secular subjects without changing itsmeaning and the abhyudaya poetry adopted puranic symbols witha secular meanings.4

The free verse (vachana kavitvam) had a privilege over otherforms of literature. By its very nature, the readers forabhyudaya sahityam has to be the masses. But from Sri Sri toKundurthi , the readers are of special class belonging toeducated class who are made as readers under the impact ofprinting press. These writers were confined to only this kind ofreaders but failed to establish a literary tradition to reach outmasses.5 This has followed by digambara and viplava (revolutionary)literatures. The telugu literature from puranic to digambara age,it was produced by educated elite classes. The readers too weredrawn from the same class. This may even extended to therevolutionary literature.

The literary standards set by the abhyudaya writerscontinued for revolutionary literature. Interestingly, Sri Sriwas the iconic figure for both these literary trends. The writerswere organized as Arasam and Virasam respectively and dictated theterms for telugu literature. But there is a literary streamwithin this progressive literature of Praja Natya Mandali andJana Natya Mandali (JNM) which was really reached the masses wasmarginalized by the mainstream literature. The poet performerssuch as Nazar and Gaddar and their literature could not get theliterary honour. This literary tradition was very much rooted inoral tradition. Surprisingly, these writers belonging to a lowercaste as their literary tradition. In the later days, the writers

like Sivasagar set the agenda for revolutionary literature byadopting the idiom of the people through his songs. His poetry isan orature in a written form.

From the above discussion, we may conclude that dominanttelugu literature from classical to modern, from Nannaya to SriSri, from padyam to free verse predominantly belongs to eliteupper caste groups. But at every stage, this elite literature wascontested by the artists/performers/singers/poets of lower castesin different forms. But their literature was not consideredseriously because the standards of the literature were set by theelite upper caste literary critics. One thing is clear that theupper caste writers of the written tradition got prominence thosewho were attempted to the literary tradition of lower castes suchas aasu sampradayam and the language of lower castes. Though thesewriters were celebrated as great writers and trend setters oftelugu literature, they couldn’t overcome their brahminicalpast. With a self imposition of Marxist ideology, these writersartificially rejected the tradition and cultural past in theirwritings.

The contemporary dalit literature has not onlyrevolutionized the telugu literature further but also refined thevery idea of literature. Apart from reinventing the past, dalitliterature has been creating its own literary genre in teluguliterature. The content, language, style, medium of thisliterature are different other dominant literary traditions.Dalit literature in telugu has its significance in many ways. Ithas been revisiting the telugu literature through its ownliterary standards. In re-reading telugu literature, dalitliterature has invented Jashua as a great modern writer inwritten tradition than Gurajada and Sri Sri. This was not becauseof Jashua’s social affinity to a dalit community but due to hisfocus on the problem of caste as an issue, the Indian socialreality was ignored by other classical and progressive modernwriters. Though his writing was in classical literary form, thesubject he touched was a revolutionary..

Emergence of Contemporary Dalit Literature The contemporary dalit literature evolved as a literary genrefrom late eighties onwards. Dalit struggles around them

influenced and made dalits conscious of their subjectivepositions and in assessing the world around them objectively.Historically, the social groups, which had acquired political andeconomic dominance, enjoyed the privilege over culturalproduction and others got silenced. Western-influenced middleclass, those who later played a major role in molding thenationalist struggles, involved in the production of literarywritings. It is obviously, the upper caste group’s ideals andaspirations and their worldview reflected in literature too.

In the post- independent India, modern State was unable touphold the promised ideals of good life and better society to thevast number of the oppressed of this country. In the politicalwritings of literature of this time, there emerged an upper castemiddle-class man as a protagonist sympathetic to the lowerclasses and he articulates their needs and is seen to bemobilizing the oppressed masses. There are very few writingswhich talk about dalits and their life. Those that exist come outas the sympathy of the upper caste writers towards labourers as apart of the class struggles. The protagonists in the literarywriting are always from the upper caste groups. They areportrayed as shouldering the responsibility to reform/educateddalits. This completely lacks knowledge about the authentic dalitlife and their experiences. These upper caste writers haveconstrains to perceive the lives of other communities. Thesesocially sensitive upper caste writers could not mobilize thesupport of their communities to their imagined ideals and many ofthem moved towards spiritualism. Most of the writers came fromBrahmin middle class families. In latter days, the intensifiedstruggles aspiring for the communist ideals too failed to capturethe dalit imagination and the question of caste remained immuneto their discourses. Till the 1980s, the entire literarydiscourse centered on the concept of the abstract human being,erosive of all cultural markers like caste, color, religion,region and gender.

Telugu Modernity : A Brahminical Intervention

. The modernity in Telugu literature reflected through thereformist agenda of intellectuals of Telugu society. Modernity isidentified with the spoken language rather than textuallanguage. The modernity articulated through the genres likedrama, novel, short story and free verse than classical poetry.The issues identified are practice of untouchability, problems ofwomen, importance of education. For this, either they negotiatedwithin tradition or to reform the tradition in the backdrop ofcolonial education. In later days, the progressive agenda of the communistmovements has taken up the project of the modernity in the nameof class struggle. They are not explicit in their articulationabout caste or patriarchy. Special reference to this consideredas pre- modern and celebrated as an identity of the class. Theidea of class not only conceals these realistic social identitiesbut also indirectly helps in maintaining the hegemony of casteand patriarchy. The social agency mediated the modernity throughtheir writings is mostly brahminical class or broadly upper castemen. With the emergence of conscious intellectuals from the lowercastes and women exposed the shallowness of the above saidmodernity. They problematized the writings of their predecessorson the issues of “authenticity” and “representation.” Theyevaluated them from the unchanged social life of contemporarytimes. In other words, the new intellectuals are assessing theliterary modernity through its social functioning. In thisprocess, they not only questioned the canons of literature butalso dismissed the celebrated telugu modernists like Gurujada andSri Sri. The Celebration of Jashua, the dalit writer could beseen as a Mahakavi as against the progressive writer Sri Sri.Normatively the modernity manifested through the dalit literatureis different from the earlier Telugu literary writings. In telugu society, the medieval time witnessed the emergence ofnon Brahmin intelligentsia, like Vemana, Potuluri Veerabrahmamand argues in favour of denouncement of caste system, socialinequality and oppression.6 Both the nationalists and liberals oflater times failed to understand the caste system, since most of

them are drawn from upper caste. The social reformers such asVeerasalingam and Gurajada Apparao are considered as the‘founders of new epoch in modern telugu’ literature are confinedto the problems of the Brahmins only. While they sought to reformcertain evils of the hindu social system, they failed to grapplewith the ideological and institutional framework of brahminicalHinduism. And these social reformers did not inherit and continuethe medieval bakti tradition, it was discontinued. Given theirsocial background and intellectual and cultural tradition, theycould not profess anti-feudal and anti colonial/caste ideologyand consciousness. Unlike the saint poets they did not revoltagainst all kinds of social evils. They were selective inphilosophical and ideological standpoint. In that sense theyfailed to generate and build a popular cultural and ideologicalmovement against caste system.7 In contrast, Dalit scholars tookinspiration from this medieval bakthi tradition in thenationalist and post-independent times,

Manifested modernity in Dalit Literature

Dalit intellectuals negotiated their philosophical views to thelarger society more through the medium of literature than anyother form. They are organic intellectuals in strict sense ofGramsci, having the elements of thinking and organizing thecommunity as against the traditional brahminical intellectuals.In this sense Dalit literature has to be seen as the process increation of counter hegemony against brahminical hegemony. Dalitliterature has significant in many ways-culturally, historicallyand ideologically. Dalit literature enriched with content anddescription of dalit struggles for human dignity. There has beenconstant effort from dalit writers in translating the condemnedlife styles and practices of marginalized people into symbols ofprotest and pride. Dalit writers gave rich meaning to dalit lifethat brought respect for them. In the process of writing their

own history, they thoroughly interrogated the existing historiesof dominant caste/class groups in their literary writings.8

An ideal society should be mobile and it should be full ofchannels for conveying a change taking place in one part to otherparts. In an ideal society there should be many interestsconsciously communicated and shared. There should be varied andfree points of contact with other modes of association. In simpleterms, Ambedkar viewed that an ideal society would be based onliberty, equality and fraternity.’9 Ambedkar favors for a democratictradition that stands for reason rather negating it. He feltfor hindu religious tradition need to undergo a radical reform.Caste is a natural outcome of certain religious beliefs whichhave the sanction of shastras. To abolish the sanctity andsacredness of caste, one has to destroy the authority of theshastras and Vedas. For this, one has to destroy the religion ofboth sruti and smriti. Ambedkar not only proposes the indigenoustradition that stands reason, but also tries to link up thattradition with the governing principle of politics. As Ambedkaris the source of inspiration for Dalit movement and so histhought has got reflected in dalit literature.

In the process of writing their history, dalits are collectingthe memoirs of the collective suffering. Dalit writer through hiswritings interrogates the brahminical past, which has thecharacter of humiliation, atrocious for dalits.10 The sufferingof the dalits for generations is identified with the very natureof brahminical society. The struggle for the human dignity andself respect could be seen as in all the writings of dalitliterature. Human dignity and self respect are the primary sourceof modernity. The Human dignity could be attained only throughfulfilment of social and economic equality. In democracy,citizenship is prerequisite for its functioning. In case ofdalits, it is negated due to its casteist nature. The craving forthe citizenship could be seen in the writings of dalitliterature.11 Against the monopoly of knowledge by the brahminical class,dalits argues that ‘Knowledge is nobody’s property; It is the wealth of all jatis’. In

fact, Dalits are productive class. The real knowledge produced out of theircollective labour.12

Dalit Literary Movement The radical contribution the entry of the Dalit literarymovement was to bring is to foreground the Dalit culturalexperiences characterized by humiliation, insult and sufferingbased on caste. By the 1980s, there emerged a considerable Dalitmiddle class which consists of small jobholders like teachers,clerks, constables, nurses, gang men, hamalies and attenders.Their exposure to education and economic security opened up newpossibilities in politics and literature. In the Andhra politics,Dalit movement is known for the innovation of a new categorycalled Dalit, making discrimination on the basis of casteexplicit. In the left parlance, the amorphous landless masses, anagricultural coolie is being replaced by category Dalit. InGandhian terms, the word harijan has been pushed aside. Theconceptual innovation has opened up the new ways of articulatingthe Dalit cause. This is clearly visible in the field of activityfrom theory to art. In India, Dalit people’s condition is the same cuttingacross the regions. There is not much difference in their socialsuffering and economic status. At the ground level, the forms ofuntouchability practiced by the upper castes are same. They haveto face humiliations, insults and discrimination in everydaylife. In case of the Dalits, intervention by the State isminimal, whether it is police or judiciary, in protecting therights of the Dalits. They have to struggle even forconstitutionally guaranteed rights. There is no option left forthem other than fighting against caste hegemony. From theirstruggles, a literature came into existence. In the lateeighties, the issue of caste came to the forefront in AndhraPradesh. This can be seen symbolically in the massacre atKaramchedu. As a consequence of the conscious mobilization ofDalits, the issue related to caste got articulated in literaturein the late nineties. Many anthologies of poetry in the form of

poetry came into the limelight. The quest for the search of theirown Dalit identity has made them broaden the literary horizons.Dalit writers questioned not only the basic premises ofliterature but also the epistemological positions of the existingwriters. They supplied a new prism to perceive the crude realityof casteist society. With the well-debated question ofrepresentation and subjectivity, the upper caste writers wereeither silenced or sidelined.Song is the medium for Dalit literary and cultural movements fromso many generations. Their folk forms centred on songs. Thereexists a general opinion that Dalit literature came intoexistence in the late eighties. It is true that Dalit literatureor culture is there in the lives of Dalits. In history, there arestruggles of Dalits in various forms. Dalit literature is verymuch enriched in oral forms and transmitted from one generationto other. It is in the form of social memory and collectivememories. The written culture or literature of Dalits may owe itsexistence to the recent times. The pre-requisite for writtenculture is education. Most of the Dalits are illiterate eventoday. This is not their fault. They are not allowed to learn forgenerations. However, with limited opportunities, they havemanaged to enter educational institutions and have managed to getat least some small jobs.

In post-independent India, a considerable Dalit middle classhas emerged, though the number is small but it is significant inIndian history. This has paved the way for Dalit literature inthe print word. Dalit writers have jolted the literary world.They raised many questions about the basic assumptions ofliterature on the question of authenticity and representation.Their entry, dismantled all the literary canons. They declared, “we will write about ourselves.” Telugu literary society haswitnessed the silence of the existing upper caste writer, whetherit is Brahminical or progressive writer. Any new struggle orliterature, brings new symbols and new language. It is the samewith the Dalit movement and Dalit literature. It is in Andhrathat Dalit writers are confronted with the ideologies ofalternative struggles on the issue of caste. Here serious

debates, confrontations and negotiations in civil society aretaking place among different literary and political camps.

Debates in Contemporary Dalit Literature

Mostly, the questions centred on who are Dalits? What is Dalitliterature? What is the ideology of the Dalit movement and Dalitliterature? One Dalit anthology of poetry named ChikkanavutunnaPata(1995)13came with a proposition that SC, ST, BC and Minoritiesare also called Dalits. At the same time, another anthology namedDalit Manifesto (1995)14 proposed that, the labourers who aresuppressed culturally, politically and economically are calledDalits. They didn't include Muslim writers in their anthology byjustifying that though Muslims are victims of Hindu religion asDalits, they cannot be considered under the category of Dalits.Secondly, whatever is written by the Dalits are considered asDalit literature. Dalit Manifesto argued that, whatever was writtenwith Dalit consciousness could only be considered as Dalitliterature, but not the other way.

The Dalit Manifesto become controversial by considering thelatter and for inclusion of the progressive upper caste writerswho are conscious of Dalit problems. In course of time, thiscontroversy resolved itself by considering whatever is written bythe Dalits with their social experience is only qualified to beDalit literature. The non-Dalits writings about Dalits may betreated as sympathetic for the cause of Dalits, but notconsidered as Dalit literature. For the liberation of Dalits,Dalits will have to achieve political power only through thestruggle but not by appealing to the State. Some others considerthat it is not necessarily through the means adopted by radicalleft parties but also through various other means like capturingpower through parliamentary means. On the question of ideology,there are different opinions. Desiya Marxism is one such dominantopinion, the Marxist philosophy that is internalised thinking ofAmbedkar and Phule.

Later came the Padunekkina Pata(1996)15 an anthology of poetry.It declared that Ambedkarism is the only ideology for theliberation of Dalits. In all these controversies, one can see theconfrontation or negotiation with the then existing alternative

political struggles. One of the responses was that Dalitliterature was saying that it is a part of revolutionaryliterature16. Some of the scholars of the Marxist camp consideredthe problem of caste as a class problem. There is anotherargument that both are different literary movements. “Dalitwriters consider the caste as an economical, social and politicalsystem. Whereas revolutionary writers consider caste as a socialproblem.”17 Dalit literary movement is autonomous and is no wayrelated to Marxism. “The aim of revolutionary literature iseconomic equality and it is a casteless society for Dalitliterature. For the emergence of Dalit literature, revolutionaryliterature may have facilitated; but it is improper to say thatboth are the same.”18 There emerged another opinion that thoughboth of them are not related, there is a need to struggle in aunited way against oppression.19

The literary expression of Dalit writers started withpoetry, which has enjoyed power over other forms. To suit theauthentic expression of their lives they also selected the otherforms like ‘short story’ and ‘novel’. The inner urge or strugglewithin them has propelled them to write short stories and novels.This is a significant transformation of Dalit writers. At least,it creates clarity in locating history. Novel and short storynot only broadened the canvas of the writers and made themaccountable to history. The Dalit writers probed the history andbrought into the literary world many things, which were nottouched earlier by other the upper caste writers. In fact, Dalitwriters narrated the submerged culture, philosophy and historiesof the Dalits. The political discourses of Marxian revolutionaryand feminist movements also influenced the Dalit novelists. Itmade them sensitive to other struggles, while writing aboutDalits. Wherever it is necessary, they differed with Marxianrevolutionary politics and its practices. The rise of sub casteconsciousness among the Dalits helped the writers to speak aboutthe concrete lifestyles of Dalit’s sub-castes rather thanpolitical rhetoric and language of the given time. Dalit novelmay be said to be the culminating point of all the political

movements since Dalit novelist has internalised the essence ofall these struggles.

However, in the decade of the nineties, a good number ofDalit writers have come to the forefront. Most of them are of theage group of 25-35 years. They have touched all the spheres oflife from caste point of view. For example, early writings inTelugu consider the life of riksha pullers and prostitutes andtreated them sympathetically for their low economic status.Dalit literature depicted the same from a Dalit point of view.Through literature, Dalit writers gave attention to concrete lifeexperiences of Dalit lives that had so far not been touched byany one in Telugu literature. Some of the newspapers haveencouraged Dalit literature. Where the Dalit movement is at a lowprofile, there the Dalit writers have kept the Dalit issue alive.Dalit literature introduced fresh tones to Telugu literature. Theidiom and expression is new to Telugu literature. They broughtthe respect to native Dalit dialect. The Dalit writers shatteredthe constructed myths in literature both in form and content.Literature came close to their life. It occupied the politicalspace and even tried to articulate all the problems.

The Madiga Dandora movement for the categorization of SCreservation proportionate to the population of sub-castetriggered a new kind of articulation in the Dalit movement aswell as in Dalit literature. The logic of representing one’s ownself led to fragmentation in Dalit literature. It is understoodthat writing about one’s caste experience is the only authenticrepresentation. Dalit writers were forced to write/representtheir own caste. In one way, this atmosphere enriched Dalitliterature by representing themselves. On the other, it weakenedthe force of Dalit writings. Most of the Dalit writers of Malacommunity become silent within no time. Some time, the madigawriters were on the centre-stage when they wrote about their lifestruggles. Chandala Chatimpu, Madigodu (The Stories of Madiga’slife) of Nagappagari Sundar Raju and Mallemoggala Godugu (TheUmbrella of Jasmines) of Yendluri Sudhakar are worth mentioning.

Writers, who belonged to the backward castes too got separatedfrom the earlier Dalit identity and became confined to their owncommunity life. They brought an anthology of poems with a name ofVentade Kalalu (Haunting Pens). Muslim writers also made a consciousattempt to assert their own identity. They came with a poetrycollection named Jaljala. Dalit women too started questioning theoppression of caste and patriarchy of Dalit males and this gotarticulated in literature. Nallapoddu (The Black Dawn) is anexclusive collection of Dalit women’s writings. Yendluri Sudhakar’s Malle Moggala Godugu is a collection ofautobiographical stories from the Dalit community. It is theDalit poet Sudhakar’s search for his community roots where a richcultural tradition and indigenous knowledge systems were vibrant.To write these stories he went to his native village and recordedthe social and cultural experiences of the older generations.Vemula Yellaih’s novel Kakka is a Dalit boy’s struggle formadigization. He learns to play Dappu from the community’s head asa symbol of pride of the community. This novel, not onlydiscusses the Dalit struggle against the upper caste hegemony butalso finds the problems within Dalit community. In the Teluguliterary world, the Dalit novel is the culmination point of allthe alternative struggles. It internalized the struggles of Dalitsub castes, women and naxalite movements.

At end of the decade of nineties, Dalit writers who are active inwriting poetry are slowly disappearing from Telugu literaryscene. There are other reasons for the silence of Dalitliterature. One is that, there is no significant Dalit movementand political leadership. The Dalit writers, who mostly came fromthe middle class, are limited to their urban life and somewherelost their roots. There is competition among Dalit writers andtheir career orientation is also responsible in diluting Dalitliterature. There is no political or public check on Dalitwriters since there is no political struggle. Thirdly, Dalitwriters, are mostly confined to poetry and they didn’t takeeffort in other forms like story, novel, song and autobiographyforms. They succeeded in tapping their rich literature from oral

traditions. Finally, the upper caste media was not showinginterest like earlier days in encouraging Dalit literature.

At this historical juncture, some of Dalit writers shiftedto the other genres like story, song and novel to construct theircultural past and struggles of the community. They too realizedthat nothing is available about them in government documents andliterary, cultural works. Chilukuri Devaputra’s Panchamam,Vemula Yellaiah’s Kakka and G. Kalyana Rao’s Antarani Vasantham arehistoric dalit novels of contemporary times, written by thedalits in late nineties. The commonality of these novels isdepiction of dalit life, and argument for the liberation ofdalit community. But these novels are not only located in threedifferent regions ( Rayalaseema, Telangana and Coastal Andhrarespectively) but also represent three different politicalpositions. The imagination of community and the construction ofthe dalit self too varies. However, struggle against castehegemony and assertion of dalits of post colonial India is thecommon theme of these novels. These novels inform dalit discourseof modernity. The author in Panchamam argues for the real politicalpower for the emancipation of the exploited dalits on thelines of Ambedkar. The novel came to the conclusion that in asystem, dalit eventhough becomes a big officer like Sivayya or adeputy chief minister like Krupakararao could not do anything, ina system which favors the upper class. This ‘inability’ iseffectively used by the upper caste in their favor.’20 Further,the novel conveys that there is no other world (maro prapancham,maro prastanam, these phrases are popular with the progressivewriter, Sri Sri) or Ramarajyam (dream of Gandhi). Dalit peoplehave to struggle by standing the edges of the untouchability,have to think on standing on the edges of the exploitation, thetreatment of inferiority, get the fistful of self respect frompoverty ridden life, and has to learn revolt from the untouchedhelplessness.21 The central character Sivayya symbolizes thedalit self, as educated, conscious, committed, quest for thejustice and even looks coward and inferior in particularsituation due to the caste system. The dalit self travels from

the Gandhian to communist, but not committed to both. Inpractical life, they feel suffocated, isolated, and helpless,though successfully reached the highest position from an ordinarypoor rural dalit life. The modern secular democracy becomes farcein a caste-ridden society. It is believed that whole socialsystem has to be changed for real democracy. In case of dalits,it is possible only through the collective struggle against thedominance and exploitation of the upper caste. The authorindicates indirectly that Sivayya and Suresh are complementary toeach other in marking the dalit idenity.

Dalits need to be armed culturally to win the politicalstruggles. Kalyana Rao’s novel Antarani Vasantham(2000)22 is alandmark in Dalit literary and cultural history from the Dalitpoint of view. The novel recorded the collective socialexperiences and struggles of Dalit community. The social memoryof a community, transmitted over generations, has been put in awritten form. The novel is a written social document of Dalitculture, which is predominantly in oral tradition. This novel isan attempt to search a collective identity of the Dalitcommunity. It is the chronicle of life of six generations ofDalits. This records a hundred years’ struggle of the Dalitcommunities. In the context where the elite scholars do notconsider lower caste peoples’ struggles, culture, philosophy,life styles and history, this novel becomes the source book forculture, history, politics and philosophy of Dalits. Kalyana Raoexplained how the Dalit culture is born from the lower castepeoples’ involvement in labor. They spontaneously and naturallycomposed the songs from their life. Apart from the value ofentertainment, the Dalits used cultural performance symbolicallyas a social protest against the dominance of hegemony of uppercaste social groups. It explains Dalit struggles in variousforms in a given social conditions. The novel depicts not onlythe sufferings of Dalits but also joyful moments in their life.This novel is an attempt towards writing history, philosophy,politics and culture of Dalits in a comprehensive form. InAntarani Vasantham, constraints to freedom of Dalits, comes from anenemy who is an upper caste. The idea of freedom itself indicates

for Kalyana Rao, a perpetual flow of resistance by Dalitcommunity to an upper caste community. Dalit community has beendescribed as a focal point of creativity, resistance tooppression and a character of purity.

Kakka is the novel about the Madiga community of Telanganaregion. In the history of Telugu literature this novel hasmultifold significance. This is the first novel on Madigacommunity as such by a Madiga writer Vemula Yellaiah. At his 40sYellaiah started writing dalit poetry in late the 1990s. Theauthor's quest to capture dalit life as a whole he opted the formof novel as a medium of expression. This piece has been written inthe backdrop of Madiga Dandora movement. This novel projectsmadigaisation (dalitisation) as an alternative to the predominantupper-caste ideology. It also opens up the internal contradictionsand violence within the community. The other striking feature isthat the whole story runs in Telangana dalit dialect. So far thedominant dialect of costal Andhra has been used in writing ofnovels. This novel came from the place where revolutionarystruggles prominently took place. The writer seems to beuncompromising with radical dalit identity and indirectlycriticizes the prevailing left culture and tries to criticallyread the left tradition. This novel ends up with consciouseducated dalits and civil-rights groups fighting together for thecause of dalit struggles of village.

On the other hand the idea of being dalit in Kakka isdifferent. It identifies that constraint to freedom to dalits isnot just from an outsider but also from the very community. Thecentral character kakka faces too many hardships from withincommunity as well as outsiders. For instance, the mother of kakkawas accused of an illicit relation and was subjected to socialboycott by the community. Kakka was denied an opportunity to takeup the duty to perform madigarikam (caste profession) that isconsidered an honour in the community. Thus the constraint withinthe community has projected a different community and a differentkind of self- awareness. And of course, he has to fight a valiantbattle against the other communities, which has traditionally

been dominant in the village. It is also shown that in times ofstruggle against the upper castes, dalits came together andfought valiantly.

Antaraani Vasantam has celebrated rich and vibrant culturaltraditions of dalit community by going to origins. The novelKakka could effectively brought out some of the inhuman socialpractices of dalit communities, which may be helpful in reformingof them. Thus a deep exploration of dalit life through novel mayresult in strengthening of dalit cultural identity. There is ascope to come up with much more serious dalit novel in future bytouching all aspects of dalit life. The novel Panchamam showsthe limitation of liberal modernity adopted by the constitutionof the nation, and felt that it failed to protect the aspirationsof educated dalits in practice. The novel goes back to the Dalittradition of madigarikam. It is another kind of protest to assertthe Dalit identity against the dominance of the upper caste andclass dominance.Conclusion The dalit modernity proposed by the dalit writers is based on asocial imaginary, which is obviously different from the bothcolonial and dominant modernity of the Indian nation. The socialimaginary in Dalit intellectuals ignites the sense of identity torecapture their own history, which is marginalized so far. TheDalit writers may have failed to take the literary, culturalmovement further. But, the questions raised through literatureare fresh and haunt the political movements of our contemporarytimes in all possible ways. All the upper caste writers rangingfrom Brahminical to progressive writers have compelled to takenote of it. As Ravi kumar commenting on the non dalit consumptionof dalit literature, the dalit literature which used Marxian/pro-nationalist canons are accepted by the non-dalit writers. Thosedalit writers who deviate from those two streams are not acceptedby non-dalit readers. He considers this deviance as a mentalityof the Indian brahmanical civil society based on the negation ofAmbedkarite philosophical tradition. He emphasizes the need todebunk the politics of selection of dalit literature by the non-dalit writers.

End Notes

1 Satyanarayana. Adapa. Dalit Protest literature in Telugu: A Historical Perspective, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.30(3), 1995, pp.71-75

2 Narayana Rao, Velchuri Telugulo Kavita Viplavala Swarupam, Illinois: TANA publication, 2008, p.16,18

3 Ibid.p.70

4 Ibid.p.146

5 Ibid.154

6 Vemana and Veerabrahmam are non Brahmin philosopher saints and yogis of pre modern times and confronted the brahminical Hinduism.

7 Satyanarayana. A. Dalit Protest literature in Telugu : A historical Perspective,Dalits and upper Caste, Esays in Social History , New Delhi: Kanishkapublishers,2005 p.81-82

8 See Sivasgar Kavitvam, Hyderabad: Bahujana Book syndicate,2004 .p.263

9 Moon, Vasant. (Comp.).‘Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches’ Vol.1 p.57

10 Yendluri Sudhakar in his poem : ‘I am still a prohibited human being/Mine is anexpelled breath/ Trying a barb tree leaf to my wrist/And a tiny spittoon to mymouth/Manu made me a wretched human animal among others/The moment he left a markof prohibition on my face/My race/Was gradually murdered… history pinched mythumb/Present history is asking all the fingers/Now we want a voice of our own/Wewant a voice that can choose what can do good to ourselves’.

11 In this Country we want a piece of land/These clouds has to be vanished/Thesewalls must be collapsed/This silence/ must be bursted / this gum/ must be dried up/O man/ I want real citizenship /Could you give me! ..what do I want/I want you/ Iwant a place/ In your heart/ I must wash my hands/ at your home/you must come to myhut/ and ask our girl for marriage/we must become /relatives/friend! Thiscountry/must become ours/as we walk hand in hand/this uneven earth/must becomesmooth/will you come? What we want now is not bloody cash/ A fearless voice thatdiscerns what we want/ A new constitution, a new state/A new earth and a new sky.See Nagesh Babu, Madduri. Yem kavali, Meerevultu (tr.Laxminarasaiah) p.74

12 ‘When hands/ From over the ‘Mala’ hamlets/ and ‘Madiga’ huts / Throw themselves on the fields/Banks of the fields blossomed/Trees flowered/And fields fragrant withcrops’. See Gowri Shankar, Juluri. Padamudralu, p.35-36 (Tr. Laxminarasaiah) In ‘Dalit Manifesto’, Hyderabad: Vishphotana, 1995

13 Laxmi Narasaiah, G. and Tripuraneni Sreenivas (Eds.) Chikkanavutunna Pata(ThickeningSong), Vijayawada: Kavitvam ,1995.

14 Kesava Kumar and K.Satyanarayana (Eds.) Dalit Manifesto, Hyderabad: Vishpotana,1995.

15 Laxminarasaih, G. (Ed.) Padunekkina Pata(Sharpened Song), Vijayawada: Dalita Sana,1996.

16 Satyanarayana ,K. Eee Potee Venaka Vunnadi Kutra ,Andhrajothy Daily, Sunday, January28, 1996.

17 Laxminarasaiah, G. Dalita Sahityanikee Viplava Sahityanikee Ddrukpadhallo Tedavundi,Andhrajyothy Sunday, December 17, 1995.

18 Je.Sree. Potee Anadam Vidduram – Kutra Anadam Kruram, Andhrajyothy Daily, Sunday,February 18, 1996.

19 Danee, Usha S. Mudu Sangha Samskaranalu- Aru Dalita Srenulu, Andhrajothy Daily, Sunday,August 13, 1995.

20 Devaputra, Chilukuri. Panchamam, Hyderabad: Lifeline Communication, p.262 21 Ibid.p.272 22 Kalyana Rao, G. Antarani Vasantham(Untouchable Spring), Hyderabad: Virasam, 2000.