Caste and Autobiography:
The protagonists of the mainstream autobiographies not only enjoy but also boost their caste privileges. They become pathetic for their caste identities when they have lost the economic security, parallel to their caste hierarchy. Many times the modernity has been cursed for such destruction. They argue to maintain the economic security which ultimately gains them caste hierarchy. Their crisis is that they cannot uphold their economic status as per the caste hierarchy.
There are rare references of the social traditions, customs and reforms in the context of low castes. Aashalata Save, in her autobiography Panaadche Phul(1975) describes that a Mahar comes to their home on the day of Baliraja with a plate in which there …show more content…
The Dalits did not negotiate caste oppression with upward mobility with Sanskritization or a move away from the system in the mode of Bhakti. The lower castes wanted to fight against the system and seek its very eradication.
‘It is an unfortunate truth of our society that whatever heights a man might scale, his caste is never cast off; it remains an inseparable part of his identity. His caste always remains a cause for scorn or contempt. Only the type of humiliation changes.’ (Jadhav 207, 208)
Some Dalit scholars saw the positive use of caste identity in a struggle against oppression. According to them, caste with democracy and universal-franchise could be an instrument for equalization and dignity. In short, the protagonists of the Marathi Dalit autobiographies locate themselves in the caste identities.
Gender and Autobiography:
The gender discrimination is obvious in the Marathi autobiographies as these are equally contributed by men and women. The mainstream male protagonists treat ‘women' in a different way in their autobiographies. Their attachment to domestic context, their subordination and loyalty towards their husbands are always discussed in their autobiographies. They are colonised in Hinduism where they cannot recollect their ‘self'. There is little scope to think them apart from their gender …show more content…
Much the critical Marathi discourse on the issue had centred around and applauded Laxmibai Tilak's autobiography Smritichitre (Sketches from Memory) for its articulation of pain in a genre that was impersonal and attempted to maintain a distance from emotion. Feminist scholars like Bhagwat (1985) critiqued this appreciation and suggested instead the importance of exploring the reasons for a lack of space for women to write about pain in the Marathi public sphere. Lokhande (1996) directed attention to how autobiography of the modern Marathi woman generally ended up being a life sketch of the husband or a narrative of the joys and pains of having a reformist husband. These women, writing their lives as the ‘other', she argues, rarely succeeded in decentring the subject of Brahmanical patriarchy (p. 96).' (Rege
The protagonists of the mainstream autobiographies not only enjoy but also boost their caste privileges. They become pathetic for their caste identities when they have lost the economic security, parallel to their caste hierarchy. Many times the modernity has been cursed for such destruction. They argue to maintain the economic security which ultimately gains them caste hierarchy. Their crisis is that they cannot uphold their economic status as per the caste hierarchy.
There are rare references of the social traditions, customs and reforms in the context of low castes. Aashalata Save, in her autobiography Panaadche Phul(1975) describes that a Mahar comes to their home on the day of Baliraja with a plate in which there …show more content…
The Dalits did not negotiate caste oppression with upward mobility with Sanskritization or a move away from the system in the mode of Bhakti. The lower castes wanted to fight against the system and seek its very eradication.
‘It is an unfortunate truth of our society that whatever heights a man might scale, his caste is never cast off; it remains an inseparable part of his identity. His caste always remains a cause for scorn or contempt. Only the type of humiliation changes.’ (Jadhav 207, 208)
Some Dalit scholars saw the positive use of caste identity in a struggle against oppression. According to them, caste with democracy and universal-franchise could be an instrument for equalization and dignity. In short, the protagonists of the Marathi Dalit autobiographies locate themselves in the caste identities.
Gender and Autobiography:
The gender discrimination is obvious in the Marathi autobiographies as these are equally contributed by men and women. The mainstream male protagonists treat ‘women' in a different way in their autobiographies. Their attachment to domestic context, their subordination and loyalty towards their husbands are always discussed in their autobiographies. They are colonised in Hinduism where they cannot recollect their ‘self'. There is little scope to think them apart from their gender …show more content…
Much the critical Marathi discourse on the issue had centred around and applauded Laxmibai Tilak's autobiography Smritichitre (Sketches from Memory) for its articulation of pain in a genre that was impersonal and attempted to maintain a distance from emotion. Feminist scholars like Bhagwat (1985) critiqued this appreciation and suggested instead the importance of exploring the reasons for a lack of space for women to write about pain in the Marathi public sphere. Lokhande (1996) directed attention to how autobiography of the modern Marathi woman generally ended up being a life sketch of the husband or a narrative of the joys and pains of having a reformist husband. These women, writing their lives as the ‘other', she argues, rarely succeeded in decentring the subject of Brahmanical patriarchy (p. 96).' (Rege