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Problematics of Dalit Representation and Sensitivity in Joseph
Macwan’s ‘Step Child’

Dr. Preeti Oza
Department of English
St. Andrew‟s College
Abstract: Dalit literature, being the most powerful form of literary expression today, has
acquired a prestigious position in Indian English literature. It focuses on writing that includes
Dalit characters, or descriptions of Dalit life and experiences. Influenced by post-modern literary
movements, it questions mainstream literary theories and upper caste ideologies and explores the
invisible twilight zones of neglected issues. The literature is essentially against exploitation, and
made use of writing as a method of propaganda for the movement. Like any other marginal
literature, Gujarati Dalit literature is a collective effort and assertion of humanism. It does not
talk only for the caste Dalits but other similar strata of the society who are in need of voice and
justice. „Angaliyat‟ ( Step-Child) has emerged in the Gujarati Dalit literature with some of the
valid questions that need to be raised and answered for its own benefit.
Key Words: Dalit literature, Post modern problematics, Marginal idioms
Introduction:
The emergence and consolidation of dalit literature in the post-1960 period in India is not
an isolated phenomenon; it is an offshoot of the reversal of the centre-periphery relationship
triggered by postmodernism, post-colonialism and identity-war all of which coincided after
1950 and created a new milieu of marginal discourses including that of dalits. Dalit literature,
being the most powerful form of literary expression today, has acquired a prestigious position in
Indian English literature. It focuses on writing that includes Dalit characters, or descriptions of
Dalit life and experiences. Influenced by post-modern literary movements, it questions
mainstream literary theories and upper caste ideologies and explores the invisible twilight zones
of neglected issues. The literature is essentially against exploitation, and made use of writing as a
method of propaganda for the movement.
Objective:
In the post modernist context, the problematic of representation includes the following:
 The use of symbols, which are ways of indicating and transmitted through human
interaction, governed by social use.
 The selection- to choose some things as important and not others, to create a
frame in which the selection makes sense, to leave things out, to put the selected
bits into some relationship so we can infer what is omitted.
 To use form- a pattern that allows us to make sense of the narrative with which
we are presented.
 To interpret symbolic structures like texts according to the genre, certain
contexts and ways of construing symbols through the genre of the text.
 To use different modalities, using different representational devices to present
us the world in different ways - so a text might be written in a realist mode, or a
modernist mode
 To conform to or play off of the discursive practices of the community in which
the text is written.
 To have conventions of representation, and to have an interpretive
community, a group that can understand the symbols and forms of representation.
For marginality the themes of resistance and search for identity are a result of suppression
and repression which lead to creativity. The German philosopher Martin Heidegger and Jacques
derrida were perhaps the first critics to decentre the centre and to bring the margin into the centre
itself. The latter also talked of binaries which affect our day to day life. It is, therefore, legitimate
to say that there always was, has been and will be the centre and margin is, very often, a relative
one and depends on power-dynamics and hegemony.
Althusser, Gramsci, Fanon, Foucault, Edward Said and Nagugi brought the question of
marginality into prominent focus. So now those who were on margins are coming gradually to
centre. Some of them are slaves, women, dalits, indigenous people, tribals, Aboriginals,
Chicanos and Chicanas, criminals, eunuchs, transvestites, gays, lesbians, pimps and others. The
term „Dalit Literature‟ has literary, cultural, religious, social, political, historical and economic
implications. Like other marginalized literature, especially Black literature and women‟s
writings, Gujarati Dalit literature started off as „protest‟ literature and has been looked upon as
„oppositional‟ literature.
In India, it continues to receive step fatherly treatment by mainstream or canonical

literature. The binary opposition is essentially between „dalitism‟ and „brahminism‟ and all the
more pronounced in Gujarat. There are two ways of capturing the origin of a movement or a
phenomenon: one, the historical way of locating the specific point of birth in a single moment or
a cluster of such moments. Second, focusing on the moment of metaphorical birth, where the
motifs and images that went into the making of a movement surface in a dramatic way. The
history of dalit movement in India also can be traced in more or less the similar way.
Dalit is a category of self-definition of Untouchables in Post- independent India;it

signifies a state of radical consciousness and seeks to interrogate and challenge the previous
stereotypes that caste Hindu society had employed to describe untouchable as well as near-
touchable castes and communities. The earlier nomenclature used for untouchables were
products of either cultural or administrative condescension, which smacked of patronizing pity-
an emotion Dalits detest.
An overview of Gujarati Lalit (mainstream literature, having derived the name from its
obsession with the „beautiful‟) clearly indicates the predominant presence of Brahmin writers. It
is against this backdrop of Gujarati lalit literature, considered central/ mainstream, great/
aesthetic, that dalit literature came to be considered marginal/ peripheral, little/ unaesthetic.
These two currents are fundamentally oppositional. It is out of this situation that dalit literature
begins to define itself as being essentially different in nature, scope, implications and direction.
Like other Dalit writings, Gujarati Dalit literature is also the product of a revolt against
the age-old exploitation and torture of the Gujarati upper castes. Literally, it is a revolt against
decadent Modernism in Gujarati Literature. Like other parts in India, Gujarati Dalit literature
was also determined and guided by the Dalit Movements in Gujarat. The movement provided a
platform for Dalit writers whose creativity received no attention from a parochial literary
establishment.
There were some attempts to insist upon commitment to the Movement as the first pre-
requisite for a Dalit writer. But gradually, after initial hiccups, it settled in a steady and strong
protest against the set system of collective injustice. In Gujarati Literature the dalit literary trend
has started around 1975. This literary trend fully flowered after 1980. Various events and causes
which took place at that time like Anti-Reservation and Anti-Roster Strikes, Communal Riots,
embracing other religion, Dalit killings of Ranamalpur and Golana are responsible for this
upsurge.
Dalit literature in Gujarati literary scene entered with a specific purpose. In neighboring
Maharashtra, it was an old entrant. Marathi dalit ideology was framed out of life sketches of Dr.
babasaheb Ambedkar and Jyotiba Phule. But Gujarati Dalit literature never had a privilege to
have such powerful leaders. On the other hand even Gandhian ideology also could not influence
Gujarati Dalit literature. During 1975, the problems like violence against Dalits increased and
some cruel instances had shattered Dalits across the country. After some years in 1981, when the
Anti- Reservation movement started, it proved a catalyst to Dalit movements. Social, cultural and
political equations were stirred. Even though Dalits were Hindus, their consistent neglect has
lead them to the crisis of identity and self-respect.
Like any othe marginal literature, Gujarati Dakit literature is a collective effort and
assertion of humanism. It does not talk only for the caste dalits but other similar strata of the
society who are in need of voice and justice. As neerav Patel rightly remarks, “I wish you to be
not only my reader but also an empathizer, then and only then perhaps my pain would end.” The
background is very important in a dalit novel. Here author uses all the problems in a Dalit life as
material and then twists the story around it. As K. M. Sherrif observes; “Dalit writing has been
described as one of the manifestations of Postmodernism in Indian literatures. However, the
acquisition of postmodernist idiom, modes and attitudes has not been uniform in Gujarati Dalit
literature.”
Gujarati lalit ( mainstream „beautiful‟) literature was pre dominantly occupied with
notions of „purity‟, „pleasure‟, and „aesthetics‟, having grown out of the legacy of Sanskrit
literature in its initial stage in the Medieval age . Modern Gujarati language ,as spoken and used
in literature today, is also derived from Sanskrit through the intermediate stages of Saurseni
Prakrit and Gurjar Apabramsa. Like all major languages of northern and central India, Gujarati
belongs to the Ind0-Aryan family of the languages.
The chronology of the milestone in Gujarati fiction is complex with many ideological
shifts within the genre. Here Dalit literature came into existence not as a literary phenomenon but
more of a social phenomenon. Gujarati Dalit writings got better response in the last decade of the
20th century. Before that it was a stony silence. As Achyut Yagnik observes;
“This graduated to a more animated discussion in the nineties especially focusing on the
difference between „lait‟ ( Aesthetic) and „Dalit‟ writing. The unbridgeable gap between the
aesthetic and the ideological ( as two mutually exclusive or rather, inimical categories) safely
kept Dalit literature out of canonizing processes as far as Gujarat was concerned.”
In the main stream Gujarati literature, the political or social forces have not influenced
the literary nature of the works like other languages. Marked by middle class gentleness, the
Gujarati literati squirms at apparently „crude‟ admissions of the sub-terranean life. For this
reason the reception accorded to Joseph macwan‟s „Angaliyat‟ demands special attention.
In Gujarati Dalit novels, realism is a pre dominant mode. It natural considering the fact
that it is universally accepted as the most effective mode for depicting lives and times vividly
and comprehensively. Joseph Macwan, the first Gujarati dalit writer to receive a Sahitya
Akademy award is a realist par excellence.
Fiction and real life over-lap in his works. Many of his stories read much like his life
sketches. Macwan‟s style and treatment are simple, but sensitive and evocative. Macwan, the
author of „Angliyat‟ ( the Step Child‟), one of the three most acclaimed novels in the history of
Gujarati Literature passed away in 2010. With him departed an era of dalit literature, for he
defined, and dominated its idiom for many years. One of the most arresting story tellers of our
times, Joseph‟s work was dramatic, weaving tales through memory and music, breaking into
elegiac songs (Marashiya), or bringing gentle flirtation through wedding songs. Like his
character in the novel, Bhavan Bhagat, Joseph Macwan was a community archive, storing in his
narratives the life and times of Vankar (weaver) community he belonged to.
Painting with words of aspirations and tragic losses of the untouchables in his novels, he
created a vivid ethnography of a region, people, and caste. Joseph Macwan was born and brought
up in a small village in district Kheda in Gujarat and being a Dalit converted in Christianity, he
had first hand experiences of all the atrocities toward untouchables in the area. His novels have
all the characters who shaped his life in one or the other form. As Joseph Macwan writes in the
preface of „Asmita‟;
“The poet of the Dalit poems is conscious of his own pains-sufferings. The borrowed
things he cannot digest, he has to fix the firmly fixed web of the orthodoxy. That‟s why whatever
is in the hand is the best weapon that is his policy; his art is that where he can use his hand. His
miseries are immeasurable even the length of the epic is short to narrate that and „khand kavyo (
long narrative poems) based on his life‟s sufferings are numerous, to destroy the every orthodox
tradition from the source is his inscription that‟s why this is not acceptable for the dalit poetry
and the poet to depart from the right path.”
As Rita Kothari puts it in the first preface to the English translation of his „Angaliyat
(step child); “A ray of hope, a beacon for the nascent body of writhin, the community of writers,
readers and critics had looked forward to Josephbhai giving direction and bringing in a freshness
to Dalit writing in Gujarati, in a way that only he could have. However, some of his
contemporaries believe that Josephbhai did not go beyond the personal universe to justify his
claim that he was the representative voice of Gujarati dalit writing. The matter remains
contestable. Meanwhile, Josephbhai carried the burden of representation and became a symbol of
both Dalit aspirations and disappointments.”5
„Angaliyat‟ marked a turning point for both mainstream and Dalit Gujarati alike although
their perspectives are far from similar. The literary elites hailed it as an authentic voice from
rural Gujarat, heard a good forty years after Pannalal Patel‟s „Manavi ni Bhavai‟ ( original 1947,
„Endurance: A Droll saga‟, Sahitya Akademy, 1995). Patel‟s novel had depicted the human
predicament of rural peasants during the worst famine (popularly remembered as „chhappaniyo‟)
around 1899-1900.
In fiction, realism appears to be the predominant mode. It is natural, considering the fact
that it is universally accepted as the most effective mode for depicting lives and times vividly
and comprehensively. Joseph Macwan is a realist par excellence. Fiction and real life overlap in
his works. Many of his stories read like his life sketches collected in „Vyatha na Vitak‟ ( Agonies
of Grief). Macwan‟s style and treatment are simple, but sensitive and evocative. One finds his
works beyond conventional realism and explores new methods and techniques to work out a
more dynamic manner of perceiving reality. In the arena of Gujarati literature, Joseph Macwan
and his works carry a special significance. The emergence and response to „Angaliyat‟ ( step
child) should be contextualized to the contemporary history.
Joseph Macwan was the first one to appreciate and encourage the authentic language
used by the Dalits into his writings. In the process of self-expression, dalit writers constantly
experimented with language as they mediate between three strands of Gujarati language
representing their cultures- the literary-classical, the folk-colloquial and dialectical. The social
structures and its dynamisms provided the exposure of more than one language cultures to the
Dalit writers in Gujarati. Most of these writers belong to first or second generation migrant
families who have moved from rural to semi-urban centers.
That gave them access and exposure to the dialect of their native villages as well as the
language of the urban cities. Higher education provided them an additional register of „standard‟
and „literary‟ Gujarati also.
„Angaliyat‟ ( Step-Child) is the first Dalit Novel in Gujarati set in rural Gujarat of the
1930s. it draws attention to its own aesthetics and political ideology. Rich in local idioms and
expressions, this gripping tale of love, heroism, humiliation, revenge and death presents a vividly
colored picture of the lives of two neighboring villages in Central Gujarat. This novel „Agliyat‟
is also called a memoir at a level of understanding. But it is done beautifully without any
intrusive reference to his self. At another level, it is also considered as a celebration of his land,
his past, his community, and his identity merged in all these.
The author‟s own childhood also coincides with the period of the novel- 1935 to 1960.
But the major difference is that the entire agony of „Angaliyat‟ is surrounded by a Hindu Vankar
family and not the Christian one. But it observed across Gujarati dalit literature that instead of
writing about their own Christian background, Gujarati dalit writers prefer to write and focus
more on Hindu Dalits. Here also, the characters all belong to a typical Hindu Gujarati Dalit class
but that makes it more profound in generating agony as Dalits were marginalized not by any
outsiders but their own people- who have similar skin, hair, language, food habits and above all
they both belong to the same motherland.
As Shanta Gokhle observes in „The Hindu‟ ,

“ It is a document of the politics of the pre - and post – Independence years, as seen from
the perspectives of the downtrodden; and finally, it is an account of the struggle of one dalit
community against its upper-caste oppressors, spurred on by two opposing ideologies, the
Gandhian and the Ambedkarite.”
Joseph Macwan used the realism of the period and the dialect in the language which
makes his narrative more engaging and complex, sharply pointing out the enemy „within‟ and
„without‟. The character of Ranchhod Delawala represents the oppressive upper caste community
who confidently quells his nephew‟s fears of a vankar rebellion.
Here, a crucial understanding is required for the term „Dhed‟, which becomes a cause for
the con flict between Patidars ( higher castes) and Vankars (Dalits). It was synonymous with
only „Vankars‟ in the older days. But gradually it began to embraces all „low‟ castes (with the
exception of „Bhangis‟) for all the higher caste Hindus.The connection between „Dhed‟ and
„Vankar‟ is now no more synonymous. Till the late nineteen century, there was no collective
term in the Gujarati language to describe the untouchable caste and their communities.
The Vankars and the „Chamars‟ were considered together with the „Garo‟, „Tidgar‟,
„Turi‟, and „Senwa‟ and collectively called „Dhed‟ by other Hindus. Only lower to them were
„Bhangis‟
To appreciate „Angaliyat‟ (Step-Child) fully, one must understand the significance of

„Vankar‟ caste. Traditionally, this community is associated with weaving and not considered
untouchable in other parts of India. M.N.Srinivas explains it as the traditional social role of the
vankars in the disposal of dead cattle when the Chamars are absent in Gujarat‟s villages. Even
the „Gazetteer‟ of Bombay Presidency published in 1901 by the British government describes in
detail the vankar caste of Gujarati under the entry „Dhedas‟ in its chapter on „Depressed Classes‟.
The „Gazetteer‟ writes:
“The position and occupation of the Dhedas of Northern and Southern Gujarat vary
considerably. In Ahmedabad and kaira with their large population of Bhangis and the want of a
class of field laborers, the Dhedas are private rather than public servants. They are considered
higher than Chamars and, except that they have to drag away the bodies of the dead cattle, are
almost never called on to sweep or do other unclean work.”
In „Angliyat‟ , probably this reference of traditional association with the removal of dead
cattle, which has rendered the vankars untouchables in the eyes of the upper castes. To overcome
this stigma of untouchability, deprivation and oppression, the dalits of Gujarat has adopted four
different ways in the first half of the twentieth century.
1. To institute a process of reform within the caste through traditional caste councils and
seek a higher caste status by changing the caste name
2. By converting to Christianity or adopting other religion
3. To transform social movements into political ones
4. To assert self-identity of the dalits, for which the major moving force was Dr.
Ambedkar.
At the time of Independence, educated Dalits were faced with two choices. One was
to follow Gandhi‟s path and to integrate with the larger Hindu society. The other path was
that of struggle and agitation to assert Dalit-self-identity as suggested by Dr. B.R.Ambedkar.
The Dalits of Gujarat adopted both these paths. In the novel „Angalitay‟ (Step-Child),
we can see both these approaches going parallel. As the period of this novel covers between
1935 and 1960, it was a period of transition. The changing socio-political environment is
captured through ongoing conflicts between the dominant communities of Patidar and the
oppressed community of Dalit vankars in a small village of central Gujarat.
Major characters in the novel also show this polarization between Gandhian and
Ambedkarite ideologies. The character of teacher or „Master‟ of the novel represents
Gandhian approach. The character of „Delawala‟, an upper caste Patel represents the post
Independence Congress approach and ideology.
In the last chapter of the novel, the Master laments the „Gandhianism disappeared
with Gandhi‟. In fact master himself is a curious product of the tension between Gandhian
ideology on the one hand and Ambedkar on the other hand.
As Achyut Yagnik puts it;
“….‟Angliyat‟ is not a documentary novel about dalit social life in it all its dimensions.
The real challenge for macwan was not to develop a story line which exposed the structure of
domination prevalent in central Gujarat. For an excellent story teller like him, to tell the story of
oppression and exclusion intimately experienced by him since childhood would have been an
easy task to accomplish. The real challenge before him was to turn the periphery ito the core, to
transform the vanquished into the victor.”
The novel revolves around four young characters- Teeha, valji, Methi and Kunku. Teeha
and Methi could not marry each other all through their lives and Valji and Kunku enjoy an
excellent married life in a short span of life. All four lives are interwoven and revolve around the
village politics, caste politics and community politics. They are intrigued between the vicious
and aggressive landowner Patidars and Thakors of the village on one side and the greedy and
manipulative dalit caste leaders on the other side. These two factors are responsible to make their
lives miserable and they both also overlap at many levels.
Here the novel begins and also begins the long ordeal, not only for Teeha but all the
major and minor characters belong to the vankar (Dalit) community of that village. Each of them
had to face an intense struggle, internal as well as external.
All four characters of the novel are made of the same nerve as the upper castes or
savarnas. They do not use any tactic or weapons of being a weak. Both Valji and Teeha are
finally killed in the end of the novel but they refuse to surrender or submit. Even though kanku
re-marries the younger brother-in-law, and Methi lives with Teeha under the same roof, neither
of enters into „alliance; with them. For the sake of their sons they live as a family, but as they
say, „their chariots never touch the ground‟.
Macwan has also depicted the sexual violence on Untouchable women but the upper
castes did not get defiled when they polluted dalit women. In the novel, a dalit girl of the village
Shilapur went to fetch water from the village pond, at that time the young boys of Patidars
harassed her by breaking earthen pot on her head. When she got wet, they made fun of her by
looking at her breasts.When Teeha opposed it, the patidars injured him with the piece of bricks.
This incident was a source to create conflict between dalits and non- dalits. Here Joseph macwan
also challenges the age old notion about the Dalit women of being flexible in moral conduct.
Both Methi and Kunku are shown as pure women and they challenge denigrate custom of
„Nattru‟ or re-marriage in the backward community. Similarly by showing Teeha‟s and Valji‟s
resistence and assertion at the cost of their lives, Macwan reasserts the Dalit quest for identity
and dignity.
The title of this novel, „Angaliyat‟ carries within itself the age-old divide between the
centre and periphery in the spheres of family and society in Gujarati culture. The word literally
mean a „step-child‟. Because of the mother‟s second marriage, he comes to a new house hold by
holding her finger (Angali). Such a child would always remain on the prephary in a traditional
patriarchal home. This metaphor is extended by macwan to the entire dalit community in this
novel. In a society, where the second marriage of a woman is a social taboo, the castes and
communities who allow such a marriage would be considered either „backward‟ or „excluded‟.
In such a social background, „Angaliyat‟ signifies the secondary, the peripheral, never
accepted by the core, the core of family and society. In the novel itself, the two stepsons never
occupy the centre-stage. Here the entire Dalit weaver community is considered as an „Angaliyat‟
for the rural society for central Gujarat.
The novel, though set in the past, the events get unfolded in the 1930s, reconstructing the
betrayals and failures in the past for understanding the present. All the characters are stuck in
their past grief which was forced upon them by their birth in the lower caste. Through a narration
of the ebbs and flows in the life of Teeha, a Vankar (weaver), an Untouchable community in
Gujarat, we see the hopes and attempts of „lower castes‟ to challenge upper caste domination.
After a long battle against injustice, for the self-respect and autonomy of action, Teeha‟s
life ends in death when he is publically beaten up by an upper class youth. To prove her true
love for Teeha, Methi also gives up her life. But this novel ends with many unanswered
questions - Does the task of a Dalit novel end with the offer of a view point that is contrary or
opposite to the dominant one? It remains debatable whether such a reversal in perception would
translate into a reversal in caste structure.
The novel also introduced to the readers in a celebratory manner as a story that
transforms „the vanquished into victor, by turning periphery into core‟ gives rise to the question-
can a literary text become subversive of the existing social order?
The theory of „Power- Knowledge‟ subjugation, derieved by Michel Foucault affirms that
the social codes, which are a form of discipline with clear mechanism of punishment, control the
citizens by putting forth pressure to make one fit its certain patterns of behavior and public
morality. These social punishments are in the form of prejudices, marginalization and public
exclusion. These punishments thwart transgressors from escaping with their individualism, and
teach rebellious citizens to obey. Social codes are formed by the powerful in order to exercise
their power over the powerless. These are the means to exploit the powerless as these are always
in favor of the powerful.
„Angaliyat‟ ( Step-Child) has emerged in the Gujarati Dalit literature with some of the
valid questions that need to be raised and answered for its own benefit. The questions are same
as in the other marginal literature written across the world , but the answers are varied and it is
all due to the fundamental problem of its regional nature and its severely critical treatment .This
novel is the unique output of Gujarati Dalit Literature. It represents Dalits‟ social, cultural and
economical issues. Here, dalits are not pitiable, helpless and hapless people but bold and brave
and fight fo their Human Rights. That is why it is remarked:
“ Up to now we haven‟t heard the voice of the oppressed case. The novel represents their
voice against the dominating Hindu Community.”
Dalit women are not only the sufferers of heinous caste-system but also of the
patriarchical subjugation. Irony lies in the fact that the Dalit males disapprove of Manuism, they
are cohorts of the ideology of Manu in real life so far as women are concerned. So, the Dalit
woman endures maltreatment, oppression and untouchability from the upper castes, while at the
same time they are thrashed at home by their husbands. Similarly the leitmotif of rape and the
master plot of exploitation are common among Afro-American literature. In the Indian context
this issue becomes a twin foci of literary representation in dalit literature. On the one hand it
becomes a paradigm of victimhood. On the other hand it is instrumental in exposing the
hypocracy of high caste people. The upper caste people forget caste or untouchability while
imposing corporal punishment or in committing rapes on Dalit women. She no longer remains
untouchable if she accepts the advances of upper caste men but if she does not yield, she
becomes a source of pollution.
The racism of the whites against blacks is echoed in the dalit women‟s slogan: “We are
not raped because we are women but because we are Dalits”. in Joseph Macwan‟s „Angaliyat‟,
there is the rape of Methi by Patel. It also shows that Dalit women were raped on the very eve of
their wedding days. Dalit literature is glocal because it translates a distinct local dalit culture for
global exposure and recognition. Whatever was written about them by the earlier Indian writers
gave only external pictures of “the other” by others. This was changed by some of the writers
like Omprakash Valmiki‟s „Jhoothan‟, Bama‟s „Kurukku‟ and Joseph Macwan‟s „Angaliyat‟.
These writers showed that it is not enough to write literature on Dalits, that literature should have
the inner dynamics of Dalit‟s life and culture which which sustain them even after their
harrowing experiences.
Dalit literature, in general, and Joseph Macwan's works, in particular, have created a
serious difficulty for their modern readers and interpreters as representations of the otherwise
silent community of „Vankars‟ ( untouchables). Silence here denotes their inability to enter
certain domains of discourse. Thus, they appear silent despite the rich oral traditions of music,
song, and story-telling, which helped to preserve their cultural identity but could not be written
into the mainstream culture. There are always questions concerning the ability of one intellectual
voice to represent the collectivity of dalit experiences.
References:
 K. M. Sherrif, „Eklvyas with Thumbs‟, Pushpam Publications, Ahmedabad, 1999,

p-9
 Achyut Yagnik, „Step Child‟, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2004, P -13
 Shaid Amin and Dipesh Chakraborty, „Subaltern Studies IX: Writings on South
Asian History and Society, Oxford University Press, new Delhi. 1997. P-169
 Pathik Parmar, Tr. M.B.Gajjan. “Gujarati Dalit Poetry” in „Dalit Literature: A

Critical Exploration‟, Sarup and Sons, New Delhi. 2010. P- 141
 Rita Kothari, „Step Child‟, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2004, P 9-10
 Achyut Yagnik, „Step Child‟, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2004, P -16
 Joseph macwan, Preface, „Asmita‟, ed. Chandu Meheria, Gujarat: Khet Vikas
parishad
www.galaxyimrj.com Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal ISSN 2278-9529
The Search for Self and Space by Indian Dalit Joseph Macwan and African
American Richard Wright
Vaseemahmed G Qureshi
Assistant Professor,
Vishwakarma Government Engineering College,
Chandkheda
“Shape without form, shade without colour,

Paralysed force, gesture without motion”
These lines by T S Eliot in his poem “The Hollow men” fit in drawing the actual
picture of the existentialism of the marginalized groups. These groups may be given physical
area where they are allowed to live in ghetto but they are not offered any space to breathe
freely in. They are entitled as individuals but have no individual identity. Their search for self
and space sets in motion from the moment when they realize their marginalized condition.
Marginality is a blot on humanity as a universal phenomenon. Marginality may have

different forms but it exists globally. As R. Bhongle writes:
What is Marginality? The term applies to those areas of human interactions

and activities which had only peripheral values, which were relegated to and
looked upon as irrelevant and insignificant to the mainstream interest, and
which appeared occasionally either to entertain or as an object of pity and
sympathy in the so-called mainstream literature. (25)
Marginality and suffering result into the search for the self-esteem and self-
establishment. To discuss the theme of search for self and space, here this presentation
compares and contrasts two texts by two marginalized writers from two different nations: The
Angliyat by Indian Dalit Joseph Macwan and The Outsider by African American Richard
Wright.
India is a country which boasts of centuries-old traditions and culture. It’s the reason
why it is called “Incredible” India. Though it is considered incredible in many ways today, it
has had its share of dark moments. It has a very long history about the suffering and mal-
practices in the name of religions and morality, in the name of socialism and ethics. One of
the major draw backs of the country, even today, is the caste system ‘varna vyavastha’. The
caste system was established in the name of religion and enforced with the help of law books
such as the Manusmriti and the support of kings who considered themselves as upholders of
religion - ‘dharma’. The force of tradition, superstition, religious beliefs, fear of punishment,
the Law of Karma - ‘karma siddhant’ also played an important role in its success. The caste
system was based on birth. People inherited caste from their parents and passed it on to their
children. They had no right to change their caste as long as they practised the Vedic religion.
The four main castes, recognized by the traditional Hindu society based primarily on
hereditary occupation, are mentioned below:
Brahmins: They were the priestly class, who were entitled to study of the Vedas-the
Hindu scriptures, perform rites and rituals for themselves and for others and obliged to
Vol. II Issue V 1 September 2013

observe the sacraments. They were believed to be the “middle” men between gods and
ordinary men.
Kshatriyas: They were the warrior class, who were commanded (by tradition) to
protect the people.
Vaishyas: They were the merchant and peasant classes, who were expected to tend
cattle, offer sacrifices, trade, lend money and cultivate the land.
Shudras: They were the labour class, whose only duty was to serve the other three
castes. They were not required to observe any Vedic rituals or samskaras except a few. They
were not allowed to study the Vedas or even hear the sacred chants. They were not allowed to
eat food in the company of higher castes or marry higher caste women.
It has been deep rooted impact of so called varna vyavastha that in the beginning of
the 20th century, Dr B R Ambedkar, a highly educated and renowned Dalit social reformer,
was not allowed to learn Sanskrit on the ground of untouchability. When he was appointed in
the Military Department of Sayaji Rao Maharaj of Baroda in 1917 after pursuing higher
education in the famous Columbia University, USA, the caste Hindu peons threw official
files towards him instead of handing them over, due to the fear of being polluted by touching
him.
Just like Ambedkar, many ‘untouchable’ scholars and writers believe that
untouchability was and still is a stain on the Hindu religion. Rajesh Joshi, a well known and
sensitive Hindi poet writes,
After my death,
When it’s written that I was a Hindu,
Write clearly that I was very ashamed (Gupta 152).
It is what Nationalist leader and devout Hindu Mahatma Gandhi also feels in this
regard when he says,
..untouchability is a curse that is eating into the vitals of Hinduism, and I often
feel that unless we take due precaution and remove this from our midst,
Hinduism itself is in danger of destruction (Hingorani 159).
These untouchables are also called as dalits. The root word of this adjective dalit is
‘dal’. The meanings given to `dalit' in the dictionaries are: burst, split, scattered, dispersed,
broken, torn as under, destroyed, crushed. All these English words sum up the exact position
of the Indian Untouchables. They are crushed and cramped and made mince-meat by the
upper Hindu castes literally. These dalits have always tried to quest for their own identity as
human beings. Their pathos and turmoils, their suffering and exploitations, their reactions and
consequences are reflected through their literary expressions.
Dalit literature is experience based. This ‘anubhava’ (experience) takes precedence

over ‘anumana’ (speculation). Thus to dalit writers, history is not illusionary or unreal.
Authenticity and truthfulness have become hallmarks of dalit literature. These writers make
use of the language of the out-castes and under-privileged in Indian society. Shame, anger,
sorrow and indomitable hope are the stuff of dalit literature. Because of the anger against the
age-old oppression, the expression of the dalit writers has become sharp and sensitive. These
writers make a fervent plea for a complete overhaul of the society. That’s why Sharankumar
Limbale said, “Dalit literature considers human as a centre. ….. There is no pain of ‘I’ but

pain of ignored society as a whole” (Gupta 15). The literary dalits present their search for
identity.
This new branch of literature first took existence in Maharashtra but later on, in
Gujarat, it has sprouted its wings slowly but steadily. Joseph Macwan is considered as one of
the pioneer Gujarati dalit writers. He was born in 1936 in Kheda district. He had to do back
breaking hard work since his childhood. During his early years he had to suffer from many
family disputes along with economical and social upheavals. As a chamaar – a very low
caste, living on the dead animals’ leathers – by birth, Joseph Macwan has himself
experienced suffering and pathos of life as it is lived by any down trodden. In his later life, he
converted to Christianity with the hope to get social and cultural acceptance at least as a
human being. Still Macwan was deeply rooted in his culture of oppression. His position as an
alterity remains as a weapon to outpour his own struggle for the self. He wrote his first story
in 1952 which was published under a pen name. From 1956 onwards, he started writing short
stories in an unorganized manner. From 1964 to 1979, he almost abandoned writing. But
literature wouldn’t abandon him. Under the influence of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, he again
took up the pen as a weapon and started writing seriously, this time with much vigour and
spirit. His Vyatha Na Vitako gained him not only fame and name but also establishment him
as a very mature writer. Later in 1986, he gave two novels: Angaliyat and Lakshman Ni
Agnipriksha and his collection of stories Sadhana Ni Aradhana.
In Maharahstra, dalit writers have mostly written poems, dramas and essays but have
not attempted to write a novel till date. Angaliyat is considered as the first dalit novel written
in any language in India. In 1989, this novel received the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi Award.
It was skillfully translated by Rita Kothari from Gujarati into English as The Stepchild, and
published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in 2004. It has the honour of being the first
Gujarati novel translated into English and published by OUP.
Angaliyat works on four levels. It is a gripping tale of love, heroism, humiliation,

revenge and death. It is a vividly coloured picture of the lives of two neighbouring villages in
the Charotar district of central Gujarat. It is a document of the politics of the pre- and post-
Independence years, as seen from the perspective of the downtrodden; and finally, it is an
account of the struggle of one dalit community against its upper-caste oppressors, spurred on
by two opposing ideologies, the Gandhian and the Ambedkarite.
Fourteen thousand kilometers away from India, the most powerful nation in the world,
America has also witnessed the same phenomenon of suffering amongst a marginalized
group. If the dalits were victims of castism, the African American community suffered
unimaginable oppression under the guise of racism.
As the dominance on dalits prevails in India, the repression on Black Americans is

seen in America. In India, this dominance is based on the birth which is not in human hands.
In the same way, in America, this repression is based on the colour of the skin, which is also
out of the human reach. In the name of racism, these Black Americans were victimized.
Robert Blauner believes, racism is “a principle of social domination by which a group seen as
inferior or different in alleged biological characteristics is exploited, controlled and oppressed
socially and physically by a super ordinate group” (Blauner 26). Another critic of African
American literature, Tzvetan Todorov puts forward the definition of racism,
“Racism” is the name given to a type of behaviour which consists in the

display of contempt or aggressiveness toward other people on account of

physical differences (other than those of sex) between them and oneself
(Todorov 370).
Their identity has travelled from “coloured” to “Negro”, from “Negro” to “Black”,
from “Black” to “Afro-American” and now from “Afro-American” to “African American”.
These people were forcefully alienated from their own history, faith and culture.
Protesting against white racism, the Black people started singing their sagas of
suffering and oppression, expressing their poetics of depression and devastation. Though the
American literature is much older and wide in its scope, accepted worldwide and universally
praised, African American writers have also contributed in it through their experiences and
expressions, imaginations and impressions.
This grief-stricken literature is observable when the African American writers pour
their grief out of their hearts which were full of many wretched experiences of slavery. In a
poem “On Liberty and Slavery” by George M Horton, such troubled voices can be heard as
Alas ! and am I born for this

To wear this slavish chain ?
Deprived of all created bliss,
Through hardship, toil and pain. (Huges 18)
In spite of having positioned on the threshold, the African American writers have
given their untold voices a new identity. These sufferers have given voices to their search for
space. These writers expressed their emotions powerfully not only in their qualitative essence
but also in their quantity of work. One of these writers was Richard Wright who has tried to
de-mystify blackness through his literary world. Richard Nathaniel Wright was born on 4
Sept 1908 in a poor illiterate sharecropper’s house near Natchez. Since his childhood, he
suffered pain and agonies. During his early age, he had to experience social and family
disturbances. At the age of 16, he had published his first short story, “The Voodoo of Hell’s
Half-Acre,” in three parts in the magazine Southern Register in 1924. Later in his life, he
began to read contemporary American literature as well as commentary by H L Mencken,
which struck him with particular force.
In the young age, he shifted from one city to other and then from America to Europe.
As a sufferer, he himself felt the urge of being noticed. He had the quest for self recognition.
His literary career was launched when his short story collection, Uncle Tom’s Children
(1938) won first prize for the Story magazine contest. In 1940, his book Native Son was
published, which is considered as the first bestselling novel and the first Book-of-the-Month
Club selection by an African American writer. His autobiography, Black Boy, came out in
1945. Although the US Senate denounced Black Boy as “obscene”, it became a best seller
book. In 1946 Wright was invited to France. After his return to the US, he thought to settle
down in Paris forever. Married to a white woman and living in the North, he still was unable
to buy an apartment as he was a Black man. His search for physical space is also symbolic
with his search for mental space. He moved to Paris in 1947 where he spent the rest of his
life. In Paris, he became associated with Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and Simone de
Beauvoir. They may have influenced his gravitation towards forms of existentialism
noticeable in his 1953 novel The Outsider, about the search of a self-conscious black
intellectual for identity.
He is considered as one of the most powerful Black writers of America as Jerry H.

Bryant said, “Wright is the contemporary black freedom movement’s prophet, with his
passionate attacks against the sins of White America and his patriarchal criticism of his own
people” (Bryant 691).
Wright has personally experienced suffering and marginality, meaninglessness and

uselessness of life. He depicted his experiences in most of his novels. At a very subtle level,
the theme of loneliness is found in most of his works. A sense of loneliness is the result of
being forced to remain aloof socially. Arnold Rampersad opines, “His most memorable
narratives are haunted by a profound sense of loveless-ness, homelessness, and alienation, as
well as by a related sense of black American culture as spiritually and culturally emaciated”
(4).
Literary expressions by both the authors have the saga of suffering, the quest for the
self, the urge to be given them space as human beings. With the background of a
marginalized caste, they have depicted their existential identity in their novels.
Angaliyat by Joseph Macwan has remained an inspiration for the researcher to look
deeply at the complex world of Indian dalits. In the novel, the dalit characters are struggling
for their identity. Their anger, agony and protests are presented by the author effectively.
Angaliyat is a documentary of Dalits’ suffering and their reactions to it as Joseph Macwan
himself saw and experienced in his life. Macwan described the harsh reality without any
bitterness but with fragrance of creativity. Bhagwatikumar Sharma, a renowned Gujarati
author says, in this novel, Macwan “describes fire but doesn’t harm. He wants to extinguish
the fire.” (Sharma 15)
Angaliyat is a saga which elaborates two opposite situations: the first one, in which
most of the dalit community members are ready to accept the otherness in their own country
and the second one, in which they wake up to protest, to challenge this unjustified otherness.
The element of this protest has been in Macwan’s life and so his characters in the novel are
drawn with the same colours of protest. This is the tale of struggle between two different
communities of one particular region. One community is well-equipped, alert and powerful
whereas the other one which is confronting this community is downtrodden, deprived of all.
While Angaliyat is full of traumatic situations and turning points, The Outsider has
also woven themes like racial prejudices, political suppression and existential crisis. The
Outsider, as an existential novel, deals with many parallel themes. The novel is a complex
master narrative to show American racism in raw and ugly terms. The kind of racism that
Wright knew and experienced, a racism from which most black people of his own time could
not escape, remained the central element in his fiction. The novel begins, evolves and ends
with the possibilities and opportunities given to a black man for reclaiming his visibility in
the world surrounding him, the world which has never noticed his presence. The black
presence - physically, mentally, emotionally or politically - was neither acknowledged nor
received by the white Americans.
The protagonist of the novel, named with great symbolism, Cross Damon, represents
th
the 20 century man in frenzied pursuit of freedom and in search of self identity. The name
itself suggests that the word ‘Cross’ belongs to the holy religious essence, the pious cross,
while ‘Damon’ stands for man’s darker insight, evil. For any man, it has to be believed that
he must have both shades of life as a coin has two sides.
In Angaliyat, the protagonist Teeha saves the honour of Methi, but none from her

village, even from her own community, is ready to stand by Teeha. Macwan writes in the
very beginning of the novel when Teeha fights to save the honour of the village girl in this
manner, “If anyone offered shelter to Teeha after his fight with the upper castes, they would
set the entire mohalla on fire. Afraid of this, no one dared even to greet Teeha although he
had rescued a young girl of the community from disgrace” (Macwan 18).
The dalits are in no state to protest. They are not even ready to think of it. They have
accepted their fate in all worst situations. Their conditioned mentality never lets them think
beyond their conventionality. When none gives shelter to Teeha after protecting Methi from
the Patel youths, Moti, a relative of Methi says to Teeha and his friend Valji: “But you know
how it is – first of all our caste is a low one, and then one can’t live in water and risk enmity
with the crocodile” (Macwan 19).
The most brutal and harsh reality gets exposed here in this point concerning women’s
molestation. The upper castes don’t touch these dalits as they are considered as untouchables
but the dalit women are not only touched for sexual satisfaction but repeatedly raped and
abused for the sake of pleasure by the upper castes. This is the worst form of exploitation that
women had to face at the hands of the higher castes.
Macwan believes that the dalit community itself needs reformation and it needs to
shed the load of the evils and so he depicts his beliefs through some individuals who
protested against the old fashioned customs, cultural beliefs, rigid mentality, conditioned
mind set up etc. Teeho protested not only to change the attitude of the upper castes but also
for the cultivation of values in the dalits. He doesn’t give ‘pretbhojan’- a feast to the villagers
after the death of his mother as it has been a ritual of the community. According to Teeha,
some rituals like ‘pretbhojan’ have no ground for logical understanding. He is in a way more
rational.
In the course of the novel, the theme of search for self identity and quest for freedom
is depicted through many characters like Teeha and Methi, Kanku and Daan, and other major
characters. Dhirendra Mehta, a critic of Joseph Macwan, says, “Angaliyat is a tale of men
who are struggling to maintain their identity as human beings” (Mehta 231). In order to
protest against intense casteism, the dalits have to willingly be ready to lay down their lives.
Teeha and his group are prepared for the ultimate sacrifice. After the death of Teeha,
Bhavaankaka proclaims, “Don’t blame the swaraj, Master, blame the human heart. Till Ram
inhabits the human heart, Ramrajya will be a distant dream. And I feel the death of a single
Valji or a single Teeha cannot bring that rajya. Many more Valjis and Teehas will have to die
like this. Our eyes will not open otherwise.” (229)
Teeha, the individual protestor, has strength of soul and body and makes the other
dalits ready for the protest also. On behalf of him, his best friend Valji tells the villagers: “My
dear chap, as we wind a cloth round our heads, we have to live now with the shroud on our
shoulders…..” (42) The dalits also believe that they can’t rely on the upper castes in any
circumstance as Teeha proclaims openly, “Patel, paado (he-buffalo) and pardhi (hunter) are
never to be trusted” (23).
The political leader from the upper castes, Dehlavala Sheth, confidently quells his
nephew, Mukhi’s fears of a Vankar rebellion. He knows the weakness of the dalit community
as well as the strength of their unity so he decides to play his cards tactfully. He says: “If they
were united, it would have been difficult for us to live in this village. The day they achieve
self-recognition, the sun will set on us.” (100)

At the end of the novel, when Teeha dies, it is neither the end of a person nor of a protest but
in fact it suggests a beginning of a new era. Valji’s and Teeha’s sacrifices give a new
dynamism to the struggle for freedom and self esteem among the Dalits. Teehas’s death
motivates the other dalits to continue with the crusade. Dr Ratilal Rohit, a critic said, “The
death of Teeha after the sacrifice of Valji is the gift of the Independence to the Dalits” (Rohit
267). Dalpat Chauhan believes, “The novel gives the first hero to the Dalits” (Chauhan 68).
Through behaviours, psyche and manners, beliefs and conducts, the characters show
the world how tall they are. Rita Kothari believes that, “In an interesting and paradoxical
way, the assertion of a dalit identity takes place through physical valour in the men and
through ‘purity’ as far as the women are concerned” (Macwan xxviii). That is why,
Umashankar Joshi, a well established and well known writer of Gujarati literature, told
Joseph Macwan that, “You haven’t popularized Angaliyat but Angaliyat has popularized you”
(Joshi 205).
The existential crisis, the search for the self is seen in the lead character Cross Damon
in The Outsider. Being a black, he is marginalized socially. But being a poor husband of a
threatening wife, he is more marginalized emotionally and psychologically. His wife Gladys
was not ready to allow him a little space for his own individual freedom. He didn’t have a
glimpse of freedom even in his own sphere. Wright, in this regard, writes, “And he knew that
freedom was the last thing on earth that Gladys would ever grant him” (Wright 37).
His being marginalized is obvious not only in the terms of racial behaviour but in the
terms of existential identity also. Thus marginality is experienced by Cross Damon, socially,
racially and psychologically too. As a marginal black in America, Damon feels sidelined by
the whites and as being ignored by his wife, he is isolated and detached from the general life
around him. At this junction, he desires to be free from all illusions and conflicts of his life.
In a train accident, he is reported dead and so he sets out to create his own identity.
This search for the identity compels him to commit four murders and ends in his despair and
violent death. He gets a chance to create himself anew. He must invent, he thinks, not only
his future, but also a past to fit with his present. He was extremely unhappy with his own
existence. To highlight his existential crisis, Wright writes, “He was without a name, a past, a
future; no promises or pledges bound him to those about him. He had to become human
before he could mingle again with people” (Wright 175). Yoshinobu Hakutani writes the
same observation as, “The Outsider represents a version of existentialism in which human
action is viewed as the result of an individual’s choice and will. To Wright, the individual’s
action must be assertive and, if need be, aggressive.” (Hakutani 165)
The novel deals with the dilemma imposed by different political ideologies. Damon’s
merger with the Communist Party is dangerous for his new identity too. About the novel, a
well known critic James Hart believes that The Outsider is “a sensational novel of a black
man’s life in Chicago and New York City and his fatal involvement with the Communist
Party” (Hart 850). Having rejected religion openly and politics secretly, having committed
murders for being a free man, having felt the chaos in his life in each situation, Cross keeps
his last hope on love. The young Damon’s desire to free himself from such bondage is closely
related to his inability to love any black woman, as shown by his relationship with his wife
Gladys or his pregnant mistress Dot. The only woman he loves is the white woman Eva, the
wife of his Communist friend Gil Blount. To him the presence of his love for Eva means the
ultimate purpose of his new existence.

At the end of the novel, after being trapped in his self-made identity and after Eva’s
suicide for his disloyalty to her, Cross Damon replies at the time of his death: “Nothing . . .
… The search can’t be done alone, . . . Never alone . . . Alone a man is nothing . . . Man is a
promise that he must never break . . .” (Wright 585). This makes Damon a perfect example of
an existentialist character. Yoshinobu Hakutani describes Damon as “an existentialist actively
in search of an essence in the meaningless existence, …” (Hakutani 165).
Political enslavement in both the texts is visible too. Dehlawala Sheth in Angaliyat
and the Communist Party members in The Outsider show their hypocrisy get maximum
benefits from the outcastes. Dehlawala Sheth prevents all from helping Teeha who needs
medical treatment at the end of the novel Angaliyat. Thus he takes his revenge and reveals his
true colours. On the other hand, in The Outsider, white politicians try to convince Cross
Damon that they have been working for the upliftment of the Blacks in the USA but in reality
they have not been able to overcome their inherent racist conditioning.
Search for identity is a remarkable characteristic of existentialist approach. The very
common and striking theme of The Outsider is the meaning of individual freedom. Cross
himself believes that everybody must be free. This has to be his only vision and mission. The
author describes his passion in this manner, “That all men were free was the fondest and
deepest conviction of his life” (Wright 111).
On the other hand, in Angaliyat, one can witness the presence of exploitation and, due
to it; the presence of existentialism. Most of the dalits face the same situation as faced by the
Blacks. Teeha, Bhavaankaka and other characters experience their isolation from the main
stream society. This isolation is imposed upon them by so-called upper caste people. The
dalits are confined in a very restrained group. They are groping in the darkness for their
shadows. They are constantly searching for the stability and acceptance of their humanness.
From the very beginning of the novel The Outsider, Cross Damon is in quest for his
identity. His search results into his murder. He is killed by Communists mainly because they
fear his independence and detachment. Before he dies, he answers the key question posed by
the novel, about the meaning of freedom to the individual. Cross declares, “Alone man is
nothing” (Wright 585). He continues, “I wish I had some way to give the meaning of my life
to others….. To make a bridge from man to man…. We must find some way of being good to
ourselves…. Man is all we’ve got” (Wright 585).
In Angaliyat, the entire dalit community is, in a way, an ‘angliyat’, a step child
towards who little heed is supposed. The dalits are considered to be outsiders. They are not
even given respect as a part of the society. In The Outsider, Cross Damon lives his entire life
as if he were an outsider. He was given a space as an angaliyat by white society. He actually
doesn’t want to accept his coarse reality and in its response, he hates to be in that chaos. In
order to be out of that chaos, he is ever ready to escape and find more chaotic situation in
which he remains an outsider. No circle includes him as an insider. Maryemma Graham
describes, “Damon is racially outside (a black man living outside of a dominant white racist
society), spiritually outside (an atheist living outside of Christianized Western society),
materially outside (a postal worker who is deeply in debt), and emotionally outside (involved
in a marriage-family situation which he abores).” (Wright xxiv-xxv)
Both the authors, having experienced marginality and suffering - psychologically,
socially, and politically - have drawn the sketches of their own experiences with the use of
words. Their literary expressions are revolt against oppressions which they experience in
their lives and which they watch in their people too. Whether the victims are the Blacks of

America or the Dalits of India, they have to suffer due to their place in the margin. They are
not allowed any space in the page. About the African American writing, Waghmare notes,
“African history has given them a full page, but American history has given only small and
narrow margin on its page” (Waghmare 21). This is true not only for the African American
literature but also for the Dalit literature as the dalits have also been kept aside forcefully
from the main stream by the upper castes.
With these traumatic situations in mind, dalits in India and blacks in America in
general and both the authors Indian Dalit Joseph Macwan and African American Richard
Wright and their literary characters in particular feel their urge to be free. Their identity has
to be redrawn. Their uniqueness has to be re-sung. Their importance has to be regained. Their
self esteem has to be re-established. Their search for space has to be given importance. Their
quest for self has to be respected. For these purposes, both the authors have shown the way.
In their literature of marginality, ‘we-ness’ is unique and common, as J M Waghmare notes,
“Their writings are autobiographies of their communities. A strong feeling of ‘we-ness’ is
writ large in their books. This is a peculiar phenomenon to be found in the literature of the
marginalized and oppressed groups” (22).
The saga of their hopeful and constructive protest, of their search for self and space is
sung by a poet Kanwal Bharti as
The freedom struggle we fight
Will be continuous till the day
When the Sun of our share
Rises for our withered plants. (Gupta 79)
Works Cited:
Macwan, Joseph. Angaliyat. Ahmedabad: Divine Publications, 2009.
Macwan, Joseph. The Step Child. Rita Kothari, tran. New Delhi: OUP, 2004.
Wright, Richard. The Outsider. New York: HarperParennial, 2003.
Bhongle, R. “Dalit Literature and African-American Literature: A Comparative Study.”
Literature of Marginality: Dalit Literature and Aftican-American Literature. Ed. N M Aston.
Delhi: Prestige Books, 2001. 25-36. Print.
Blauner, Robert. Racial Operation in America. New York: Harper & Row, 1972. Print.
Bryant, Jerry H. “Wright, Ellison, Baldwin – Exorcising the Demon.” The American Classics
Revisited: Recent Studies of American Literature. Eds. P. C. Kar and D. Ramakrishna.
Hyderabad: American Studies Research Centre, 1985. 670-693. Print.
Chauhan, Dalpat. Gujarati Dalit Sahityani Kedie. Ahmedabad: Gujarati Dalit Sahitya
Akademi, 2008. Print.
Gupta, Ramanika. Dalit Hastakshep. Ed. Omprakash Valmiki. New Delhi: Shiplayan, 2004.
Print.
Hakutani, Yoshinobu. “Richard Wright’s The Outsider and Albert Camus’s The Stranger.”
Richard Wright: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Arnold Rampersad. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 1995. 162-173. Print.
Hart, James D. The Oxford Companion to American Literature. New York: OUP, 1983. Print.
Hingorani, Anand T, ed. My Philosophy of Life by Mahatama Gandhi. Bombay: Pearl Pub
Pvt Ltd, 1961. Print.

Hughes, Langston. “I, Too.” The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Eds.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nelie Mckay. New York: Norton, 1997. 559-560. Print.
Hughes, Langston, ed. Poetry of the Negro 1746-1949. NY: Doubleday & Co, 1949. Print.
Joshi, Umashanker. “Gujarati Katha Sahitya Pravah ma ek Vishisth Rachana: Angaliyat.”
Angaliyat. Joseph Macwan. Ahmedabad: Divine Publications, 2009. 205-207. Print.
Mehta, Dhirendra. “Angaliyat: Sarjakta ni Tapaas.” Angaliyat. Joseph Macwan. Ahmedabad:
Divine Publications, 2009. 230-231. Print.
Rampersad, Arnold, ed. Richard Wright: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 1995. Print.
Rohit, Ratilal. “Angaliyat ni Samajshashtriya Drashtikaun thi Tapaas.” Angaliyat. Joseph
Macwan. Ahmedabad: Divine Publications, 2009. 264-268. Print.
Sharma, Bhagwatikumar. “Joseph Macwan : Gujarati Bhasha Sahitya ni ek Dhanyata.”
Angaliyat. Joseph Macwan. Ahmedabad: Divine Publications, 2009. 13-15. Print.
Todorov, Tzvetan. ““Race,” Writing, and Culture.” “Race,” Writing, and Difference. Ed.
Henry Louis Gates. Chicago: Uni. of Chicago Press, 1986. 370-380. Print.
Waghmare, J. M. “Literature of Marginality.” Literature of Marginality: Dalit Literature and
Aftican-American Literature. Ed. N. M. Aston. Delhi: Prestige Books, 2001. 16-24. Print.

© 2022 IJRTI | Volume 7, Issue 6 | ISSN: 2456-3315
Angaliyat: A Story of Dalit Redemption

Dr. Nipam Chauhan
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Uka Tarsadia University, Bardoli, India
Abstract: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the Dalit situation, concerns, and awareness in post-independence India. It
highlights how renowned novelist Joseph Macwan juxtaposes Dalit and Elite, anguish and delight, fear and courage, defeat
and triumph, just and unjust existing in two small villages located in Gujarat. Because of its realistic description and the
author's first-hand experience, Angaliyat has occupied an eminent place in the arena of Gujarati literature. Elite sovereignty
aided by traditional taboos, beliefs and power has eroded the socio-cultural-economic fabric and jeopardized the lives of the
poor untouchable. The novel resonates that no matter how so ever physically persecuted the Dalit are, their spirit remains
indomitable.
Keywords: Dalit Literature, Dalit, Elite, Oppression, Politicos, Values, Solidarity
As a result of Gandhiji's efforts, the Dalit society, which had been subjugated, shattered, and afflicted for thousands of years, began
to raise its head, but the latter three decades of the twentieth century saw a transformation, a rebellion, and a type of indestructible
awareness in it. Connotatively, the term 'Dalit' refers to a social movement rather than a literary; however, it is undeniable that when
a section of society that has long been a victim of injustice, resists discrimination and demands its rights, the Dalit spirit is shaped
and echoed in forms of literature which is known as 'Dalit literature. 'The term 'Dalit' originated from the word 'dal,' meaning
"subdue," "strew," "split," "oppressed," and "broken." Dalit men and women become not only victims of inhumane torture and a
slew of other horrors, but also silent witnesses to elites' physical assaults, rapes, and other humiliations on women in their society.
Furthermore, social ills such as economic inequity, exploitation, untouchability, partiality, despotism, heinousness, and malice have
pulled their life into a quagmire. In India, the caste system, defined as varna vyavastha, is linked to Hindu lawbook Manusmriti and
accordingly four ‘varnas’ ‘Brahmin’, ‘Kshtriya’, ‘Vaishya’ and ‘Shudra’ were reinforced in the lives of people by the coalition of
kings and upholders of religion in the name of tradition, superstition, religious beliefs, dread of punishment, and the Law of Karma.
It contributed to the harsh treatment of persons from lower castes, because caste is determined by one's birth and cannot be changed.
Fear, starvation, poverty and corruption characterise the atmosphere in the post-independence era, as do disparities and
discriminations between Christian, Chamar, Bhangi, 'Vaniya', 'Brahman,' and ‘Harijan’. In the name of creed and scruples,
communism and integrity, the upper and lower classes have stayed unchanged. Despite the fact that the government has passed
numerous laws, socioeconomic disparity still exists.
Dalit literature emerged in post-independence India as a result of the decentralisation of power prompted by post-modernism, post-
colonialism, and the quest for identity, and thirst for equality of the marginalised community, which had begun in the world a few
centuries ago and was also recorded in the works of eminent writers around the world. The backward Dalit community's sorrow,
suffering, frustration, loneliness, and other tyrannies in the caste-class ridden Hindu society are self-evidently expressed in literature
by Dalit penmen. It speaks out against the upper class's long history of social, economic, political, and cultural exploitation of India's
untouchables. Thus, Dalit literature refers to writing that is dedicated to the resuscitation of Dalit society, the environment, Dalit
content, Dalit issues, Dalit characters, and the cause of Dalit consciousness', development and foundation. It runs counter to
literature written with Brahminical spectacles on. "The only authentic Dalit literature," according to renowned Marathi writer
Baburau Bagul, "is writing that establishes human beings in a place other than God, religion, and country, liberates and celebrates
human beings by fighting caste and race is the true Dalit literature." (Bagul 282) Dalit literature treats the human as a centre,
Sharankumar Limbale writes. ..... There is no 'I' pain, only the pain of a population that has been overlooked as a whole. Dalit
writers write out of social responsibility. Their writing expresses the emotion and commitment of an activist. That society may
change and understand its problems - their writing articulates this impatience with intensity. They regard their literature to be a
movement " (Limbade 33)
The ideologies of Dr. Ambedkar and Shri Jyotirao Phule impacted Marathi Dalit literature, which serves as a framework for Dalit
literature in all other languages. Gujarati literature in the post-independence era was affected by various Dalit activities and
consciousness, and as a result, the first generation of Dalit writers had a dual obligation: to share their experiences and to spread
knowledge. The majority of Dalit authors' works tend to portray their frustrations, indignation, and animosity toward the upper
castes, along with their yearning for societal reform. Jayanti Gadit says in a high and sarcastic tone, " It is logical that as a Dalit, if
he or his relatives had been victims of the aristocracy's exploitation in some way, some animosity towards the aristocracy will be
nurtured in them. Another layer of Dalit human sense will not open up to them if they keep their creative eyes closed all the time.”
(Pandya 52) The fruits of the struggles waged by Ambedkar were to be tested by the post-independence generation. There was a
challenge of evading, exposing thousands year old histories of suppression, of prevalent mortification and fostering untold,
unforeseen, unproven esteem, rewarding humanity revealed through their prominent cultural values – and Joseph Macwan
triumphed in the ordeal. Achyut Yagnik aptly says: “…. Angaliyat is not a documentary novel about Dalit social life in it all its
dimensions. The real challenge for Macwan was not to develop a storyline which exposed the structure of domination prevalent in
central Gujarat. For an excellent storyteller like him, to tell the story of oppression and exclusion intimately experienced by him
IJRTI2206044 International Journal for Research Trends and Innovation (www.ijrti.org) 254
since childhood would have been an easy task to accomplish. The real challenge before him was to turn the periphery to the core,
to transform the vanquished into the victor." (Yagnik 27)
Joseph Macwan's creative temperament and outward personality are influenced by his firsthand, authentic life experiences, which
serve as a source of outrage against exploitation, casteism, untouchability, ignorance, social inequity, curiosity, superstition, narrow-
mindedness, deception and injustice suffered by Dalit community. Joseph Macwan, a Sahitya Academy award winner and a realist
par excellence say, “I had been a part of, a piece of their suppressed life, had also seen them never quitting their outlook. Those
predicaments force me to make them alive on paper. Such is my contribution…I don’t have any ideology or philosophy…it’s just
me getting revealed in my creation.” (Macwan 5)
Rita Kothari writes in the first preface to the English translation of Angaliyat (The Step Child);
“A ray of hope, a beacon for the nascent body of writhing, the community of writers, readers and critics had looked forward to
Josephbhai giving direction and bringing in freshness to Dalit writing in Gujarati, in a way that only he could have. However, some
of his contemporaries believe that Josephbhai did not go beyond the personal universe to justify his claim that he was the
representative voice of Gujarati Dalit writing. The matter remains contestable. Meanwhile, Josephbhai carried the burden of
representation and became a symbol of both Dalit aspirations and disappointments.” (Rita Kothari 9)
With a heavy heart, the author pays homage to the genuine, flesh-and-blood people in society, acknowledging their inexplicable
tragedies, calamities, and hardships. Joseph Macwan, who survived such ordeals and portrayed them without bitterness, is not only
a documentary solidity but the fragrance of a creative. When it comes to emotions, the writer has never been in a state of emotional
anguish or shed tears.
The publication of Joseph Macwan's Dalit novel Angaliyat (Step Child) paved the ground for further exploration of Dalit concerns
in Indian fiction. While reading Angaliyat we feel as if entering into a foreign realm, the door which was still locked.
"For the first time, the author has vividly described the life struggle of an untouchable caste," Dhaval Mehta said of Angaliyat, the
decade's most epic masterpiece. This critically acclaimed novel develops into a "narrative of human beings seeking their identity,"
(Pandya30) expressing characteristics such as creativity, tenacity, patience, dedication, and empathy. This remarkable story
is a realistic novel with very little fantasy.
It is the first Gujarati novel that attempted to bring social awareness and reflects the plight of the untouchable weaver community.
The focus eventually shifts from the individual to the entire society, from the story of Teeho and Methi's relationship to the story
of the entire weaver caste residing in a small village in Gujarat's Kheda region. It's a true story about the Patel-Thakor-Harijan-
Baraiya and Weavers (Vankar) clans of Ratnapur-Shilapur and Kerdia. Characters such as Jeevan, Valji, Dano, Teeho, Kanku,
Bhavan Bhagat, Methi, Master, Ramlo, Bhikhalo, Khushlo Khant, Chunthiyo Chorat, Vali, Gokal, and others represent the weaver
community, whereas Meghji Patel, Manji, Nanji, Ranchod Delawalo, Dhulsang, and others represent the higher class. The
untouchables are continually neglected, maltreated, verbally and physically beaten and forced to live in a wretched state in a
secluded corner of society, which is quite terrifying. Many fatalistic accept it as Valji says, “To live where you were born and to be
alive means to put up with life, whether it is a little or a lot, but you must compromise.” (Macwan 30)
The thematic fabric is built around a conflict in the neighbouring village of Shilapur between four weaver caste men and the
established interests of the upper caste. Teeharam (Teeho), a foreigner who arrived in Shilapur to sell fabric, scolds Naniya, son of
Meghji Patel, who points a stone at the pot of a weaver girl Methi, completely wetting her, and she is abused as a slut despite her
protests. “Their eyes roved over the woman’s nipples visible through her wet blouse. Flustered under their lascivious gaze she re-
adjusted her wet pallav across her chest” (Macwan 15, 16).
Teeho, unable to bear a girl's humiliation, engages in a brawl with superior lads. As the feud intensifies, Tiha's head explodes, and
a helpless and blood-streaked Teeho seeks refuge with the weavers, but the frightened wavers refuse to help him, as this small but
politically and economically powerful elite has overpowered the eighty-year-old weavers' community and has kept them in in a
constant state of turmoil. They ascertain the same as Valji, that for them life means suffering which can be only more or less.
The incident had dire repercussions. Dhulsang Thakore, the chief of Shilapur village, which has a population of Patel and Thakore,
strictly forbade Valji and Tiho admission into the village. The weavers believe that 'diving into the sea and exacting vengeance on
the crocodile' is unaffordable to them. ( (To live in Rome and Strife with Pope): But Teeho determinedly says, “To hell with water
and crocodiles... people like us either become extinct or we suck up all their water itself... the British sun is still warm. Once
Independence arrives, our days will be numbered” (Macwan 23).
Valji devises a secret plan to transport Methi to Ratnapur after being stopped to visit Shilapur, but unfortunately, Golo, the motor
driver, spills the bins to the adversaries. Valji, who was rushing after the motor and climbing on it, was hit on the head by a big
branch of a tree during the abduction and died as a result of injuries. Valji is killed by Delawala Seth's plot. However, everyone
who was a part of the scheme is held accountable. Valji’s death frustrated Teeho, but on the other hand, is supported by daring
activists such as Master, visionary Bhavan Bhagat, and many young weavers. Kanku, Valji's window, agrees to marry Dana, her
brother-in-law, after a long period of trauma. Both Methi and Teeho are miserable in their marriages to Chuthiya Chorat and Vali,
respectively, and yearn for each other and dream of their union, but society forbids them from doing so. Gradually, an extreme
conflict is developed between Methi and Vali .
Ranchod Delawala, is elected as a minister in the post-Swaraj period and the situation worsens for Dalits. Teeho was severely
thrashed by Patels but the hospital and police remain passive, leaving helpless Teeho on the verge of death. Master and Danji, try
hard but to no avail and Teeho die in the cart on the way. The whole community sinks into despair when he is buried next to his
friend Valji’s grave. Shocked Methi gives up food and water, after eighteen days she also bids farewell to this cruel world forever
and is buried next to Teehai's grave. Thus, death united them. Towards the end, Teeha and Dana's offspring leave the village to
ward off the social harassment and flee to the city to earn a living peacefully. After many years, to everyone’s astonishment, Teeha’s
stepchild Gokul donates a large amount to build a school in the village and will have his father’s name inscribed on the marble
plaque. The story ends in bliss. However, in this way, the literary meaning of ‘Angaliyat’-‘the stepchild' becomes synonyms for the
biased treatment of the whole weaver community, a real stepchild.
Angaliyat is a saga of the predicament of the Dalit community where in the plot of suffering and protest, loss of identity and search
for individuality, evading history and writing present, fear and courage, love and dedication go hand in hand. Shri Pramod Kumar
Patel notes, "The self-assurance and exuberance displayed by the story's key characters, Teeho, Walji, Kanku, Methi, and others,
indicate the community's strong identity. Macwan has closely been associated with the people of this weaver's society, so he has
seen them more closely in the way of life, manners, rituals, and traditions of that class. As he says about Teeha, "Here, too, the
creator's intention to render Tiha a hero can be apparent... nevertheless, due to “..his hero-like attitude, the work is drawn into the
immensity of the class fight." In a very natural way, strategies, manoeuvres, and rivalry merged. As a result, Teeha's heroic
behaviour in the work doesn’t appear artificial." (Macwan 53)
As Methi in the story depicts, Dalit women are more vulnerable. They are treated with contempt and are subjected to horrors,
exploitation, injustice, inequality, horrible tortures, and societal evils like child marriage and neglect, which are fostered by both
their social structure and Elites. When they can't discover a way out, they strive to eliminate their so-called existence. Low caste
individuals are generally thought to have no values, but the love story of Teeha- Methi shows true love blossoming under any
conditions, and Teeha's sacrifice on the altar of discrimination has a new depth, that of love. The love plot leads the reader to the
plot of Dalit persecution, although it overpowers the theme of suppression at times in the work. Some scholars have also pointed
out the limitations of narration or object integration. Jayant Gadit says, "The story which was made exciting by the thrilling events
in the first half gets entangled in the marriage knot of Teeho-Kanku, Methi-Dana in the second half and the story of class struggle
changes." (Pandya 54) Even Pramod Kumar Patel "sees some serious limitations in terms of the artistic composition of the novel".
Also, My Dear Jayu calls the sequel “Shithil bandh" (loose plot) and Bharat Mehta "Naryo Filmi" (Completely dramatic).
Nonetheless, the author has been extremely successful in portraying it as an artistic work and in chronological social reality. Thus,
Babu Dawalpura says, "Despite the shortcomings in the concept of work, character building and language composition, the success
of the author in shaping the social reality in this popular novel is remarkable." (Davalpura 22)
A string of incidents of caste-class discrimination portrayed in the novel displays the cunning of the upper class intoxicated by
power and superiority. It costs many lives and even descendants of Teeha-Dana, plagued by insecurity, helplessness and social
neglect, leave the city in search of a better life, but the incident of donating 7000 rupees for a high school by Gokal and having his
father Teeha’s name inscribed on the marble plaque is a kind of slap on racial-jaundiced eyed Dehlavala who asked for 5000 rupees
donation. Gokal’s action indicates weavers’ commitment to obtain education to improve their social and economic circumstances
and also an assertion of their rights as well as existence by giving 2000 rupees more. Regarding this nationally acclaimed novel,
My Dear Jayu says, "The life of a forgotten class born from the struggle against illusions has been depicted in a bleak light. Not
only is class conflict an appealing and timeless feature of this story, but so are the deeds committed as a result of it." Mohan Parmar
notes, “The documentary depiction of the society in which he was born and suffered unfathomable humiliation, this work may fall
short of artistic criteria, but the author has succeeded in evoking “a world of inner pain." (Davalpura 55) Furthermore, the use of
vernacular language as a technique to delve deep into the psyche of Dalits to explore a deep sorrow and demonstrate admirable
courage helps the characters to come to life. The author invigorates the language with new spirits, attitudes and meanings, and
popular expression skillfully offering the world of the tormented humanities and their indecipherable pining with artistic brilliance.
Individual strife, family conflict, and social class warfare are all present in 'Angaliyat.' The author has demonstrated a lovely
approach to describing reality in a genuine manner, rather than a flight of fancy. In addition, by telling this genuine narrative in
their language and dialect, he has introduced the reader to a new 'people'. Dalits are shown not only as humiliated, pitiful, and
helpless individuals, but also as courageous, fearless, and assertive advocates for their human rights.
REFERENCES
[1] Bagul Baburao Dalit literature is but Human literature. In: Dangle A (ed) Poisoned Bread: Translations from
Modern Marathi Dalit Literature. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1992
[2] Davalpura, Babu. Kathayan. Ahmedabad: R.R.Sheth Co. 2009.
[3] Gupta, Ramanika. Dalit Hastakshep. Ed. Omprakash Valmiki. New Delhi: Shiplayan, 2004.
[4] Limbāḷe, Śaraṇakumār and Alok Mukherjee. “Introduction.” Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature: History,
Controversies, and Considerations. Chennai: Orient Blackswan, 2004
[5] Macwan, Joseph. Angaliyat. Ahmedabad: R.R.Sheth Co. 2003.
[6] Macwan, Joseph. The Step Child. Trans. Rita Kothari, New Delhi: OUP, 2004
[7] Pandya, Sudha (Ed.). Adhunikottar Sahitya. Gandhinagar: GS Academy, 2006
[8] Patel, Pramodkumar. Kathvichar., Ahmedabad: Parshwa Prakashan, 1999
[9] Yagnik, Achyut. Step Child. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004

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Problematics of Dalit Representation and Sensitivity in Joseph

Macwan’s ‘Step Child’

St. Andrew‟s College

Key Words: Dalit literature, Post modern problematics, Marginal idioms

In India, it continues to receive step fatherly treatment by mainstream or canonical

Dalit is a category of self-definition of Untouchables in Post- independent India;it

As Shanta Gokhle observes in „The Hindu‟ ,

To appreciate „Angaliyat‟ (Step-Child) fully, one must understand the significance of

The „Gazetteer‟ writes:

2. By converting to Christianity or adopting other religion

3. To transform social movements into political ones

As Achyut Yagnik puts it;

 K. M. Sherrif, „Eklvyas with Thumbs‟, Pushpam Publications, Ahmedabad, 1999,

 Pathik Parmar, Tr. M.B.Gajjan. “Gujarati Dalit Poetry” in „Dalit Literature: A

“Shape without form, shade without colour,

Marginality is a blot on humanity as a universal phenomenon. Marginality may have

What is Marginality? The term applies to those areas of human interactions

Vol. II Issue V 1 September 2013

Dalit literature is experience based. This ‘anubhava’ (experience) takes precedence

Vol. II Issue V 2 September 2013

Angaliyat works on four levels. It is a gripping tale of love, heroism, humiliation,

As the dominance on dalits prevails in India, the repression on Black Americans is

“Racism” is the name given to a type of behaviour which consists in the

Vol. II Issue V 3 September 2013

Alas ! and am I born for this

He is considered as one of the most powerful Black writers of America as Jerry H.

Vol. II Issue V 4 September 2013

Wright has personally experienced suffering and marginality, meaninglessness and

Vol. II Issue V 5 September 2013

Vol. II Issue V 6 September 2013

Vol. II Issue V 7 September 2013

Vol. II Issue V 8 September 2013

Vol. II Issue V 9 September 2013

Vol. II Issue V 10 September 2013

Angaliyat: A Story of Dalit Redemption

Keywords: Dalit Literature, Dalit, Elite, Oppression, Politicos, Values, Solidarity

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