Outcaste and outcast: navigating the caste system in indian literature
India’s caste system has been the dominant social structure for centuries, and because of its close ties with Hinduism, it has largely resisted attempts to dismantle it in the face of political revision, and despite the efforts of lawmakers. The idea of social hierarchy is deeply ingrained in Indian...
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| Format: | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61604 |
| _version_ | 1826110550598221824 |
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| author | Loo, Stefany Hui Mei |
| author2 | School of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Humanities and Social Sciences Loo, Stefany Hui Mei |
| author_sort | Loo, Stefany Hui Mei |
| collection | NTU |
| description | India’s caste system has been the dominant social structure for centuries, and because of its close ties with Hinduism, it has largely resisted attempts to dismantle it in the face of political revision, and despite the efforts of lawmakers. The idea of social hierarchy is deeply ingrained in Indian consciousness, and this can be seen in several prominent literary texts in Indian literature in English. With reference to Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable, Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, this dissertation will argue that the caste system has embedded a need in India for social hierarchies, and the attempt to dismantle caste has been largely unsuccessful due to the refusal of upper castes/classes to relinquish their positions of power. I propose that this is due to a need to construct an Other in order for members of society to preserve their sense of superiority, resulting in the creation of a different system of appraisal; as India slowly shifts away from the caste system, it has simultaneously moved closer to a hierarchy where one’s worth is determined by socioeconomic status, thus rendering low-income servants “outcasts” that are vulnerable to exploitation, very much like the situations faced by Dalits. Because of this, those belonging to the fringes of society—a space in which they belong to Indian society but are prevented from fully participating in it—are kept in this liminal position. I will then explore various types of performativity that outcastes and outcasts rely on in negotiating their place in the face of social rejection. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:36:18Z |
| format | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| id | ntu-10356/61604 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:36:18Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/616042021-02-17T08:20:29Z Outcaste and outcast: navigating the caste system in indian literature Loo, Stefany Hui Mei School of Humanities and Social Sciences Shirley Chew DRNTU::Humanities India’s caste system has been the dominant social structure for centuries, and because of its close ties with Hinduism, it has largely resisted attempts to dismantle it in the face of political revision, and despite the efforts of lawmakers. The idea of social hierarchy is deeply ingrained in Indian consciousness, and this can be seen in several prominent literary texts in Indian literature in English. With reference to Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable, Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, this dissertation will argue that the caste system has embedded a need in India for social hierarchies, and the attempt to dismantle caste has been largely unsuccessful due to the refusal of upper castes/classes to relinquish their positions of power. I propose that this is due to a need to construct an Other in order for members of society to preserve their sense of superiority, resulting in the creation of a different system of appraisal; as India slowly shifts away from the caste system, it has simultaneously moved closer to a hierarchy where one’s worth is determined by socioeconomic status, thus rendering low-income servants “outcasts” that are vulnerable to exploitation, very much like the situations faced by Dalits. Because of this, those belonging to the fringes of society—a space in which they belong to Indian society but are prevented from fully participating in it—are kept in this liminal position. I will then explore various types of performativity that outcastes and outcasts rely on in negotiating their place in the face of social rejection. Bachelor of Arts 2014-06-17T02:08:29Z 2014-06-17T02:08:29Z 2014 2014 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61604 en 39 p. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | DRNTU::Humanities Loo, Stefany Hui Mei Outcaste and outcast: navigating the caste system in indian literature |
| title | Outcaste and outcast: navigating the caste system in indian literature |
| title_full | Outcaste and outcast: navigating the caste system in indian literature |
| title_fullStr | Outcaste and outcast: navigating the caste system in indian literature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Outcaste and outcast: navigating the caste system in indian literature |
| title_short | Outcaste and outcast: navigating the caste system in indian literature |
| title_sort | outcaste and outcast navigating the caste system in indian literature |
| topic | DRNTU::Humanities |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61604 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT loostefanyhuimei outcasteandoutcastnavigatingthecastesysteminindianliterature |