Rewriting History from the Margins: A Subaltern Historicist Reading of Mahasweta Devi’s Selected Fiction | Chapter 10 | Language, Literature and Education: Research Updates Vol. 9

 

Ever since the dawn of critical enquiry, the claims of history and writers of history(ies) had been held under suspension, in favor of alternative truth(s). In the poststructuralist milieu, one barely zeroes in on one truth or the absolute truth, but writers like Mahasweta Devi, continually ascertain the claim to ‘unwrite’ the existing history(es), and rewrite one. Mahasweta Devi defines literature as a ‘responsible’ act that originates from the historical commitments of the writer.  These commitments necessitate literature to be written to achieve the transformation of the unjust social system. She attempts to write the history of those individuals whose existence itself was a hearsay for writers at large and the writers of history(ies) in particular. When Devi took to writing, writing by individuals from the marginal lot was a rare phenomenon. National narratives were held in glory. It took her indomitable spirit and a fighter’s instinct to write for the tribals. All of her narratives are directed towards the most important claim and right of the tribals – to be in history, to have history and to write history. Devi’s literary intervention can also be read through the lens of subaltern historiography, which recollects the voices and experiences of the marginalized that are systematically silenced by the dominant historical narratives. By reinforcing the lives of tribals and other oppressed groups, she challenges the hegemony of mainstream history. Her work exemplifies how literature can act as a counter-discourse, destabilizing established power structures and asserting the presence of those who have historically been rendered invisible.

 

 

Author(s) Details

P.R. Amutha Arockia Mary
Auxilium College (Autonomous), Vellore - 632 006, India.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/lleru/v9/6429