A Study of Dalit Representation in Pa. Ranjith's Attakathi
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Artha-Journal of Social Sciences 2017, Vol. 16, No. 3, 17-37 ISSN 0975-329X|https://doi: 10.12724/ajss.42.2 Fabric-Rendered Identity: A Study of Dalit Representation in Pa. Ranjith’s Attakathi, Madras and Kabali Benson Rajan* and Shreya Venkatraman† Abstract Cinema has played a role in caste politics in India. Its role ranges from special arrangement to consume the film to working in films based on caste based demarcated jobs. Films have always been in a constant struggle to eradicate eas well as to maintain the boundaries between the dominant and the dominated. Clothing is one such element which acts to represent the formation of a community‟s image in people‟s minds. The representation politics with the fabric worn in films becomes the clash between dress codes. These are symbolic conflicts played on the screen between social and cultural norms that possess the potential to alter identity and its structures of reality. This paper will be dealing with the analysis of three films by Pa. Ranjith: Attakathi (Cardboard Knife)(2012), Madras(2014) and Kabali(2016); to understand the representational politics involving the Dalit community with the help of costumes that the characters adorn in the films. Semiotics as an approach has been applied to understand the representation of Dalit identity reflected through clothing practices. Keywords: Dalit Identity, Ambedkar, Blue, Caste Dress Code, Tamil Cinema, Mobility, Representation * School of Business Studies and Social Sciences, Christ University Bengaluru, India; [email protected] † Christ University Bengaluru, India; [email protected] 17 Artha-Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.16, No. 3 ISSN 0975-329X 1. Introduction One of Indian society‟s fundamental and most profound problems is caste. It was traditionally represented in the form of a structured hierarchical system of Varna. Films have constantly struggled to eradicate the boundaries between the dominated and the dominant. This ideological and material struggle has weakened governance systems but not caste (Racine & Racine, 1998). Caste based films produced on the subject of Dalits and their struggles have given the downtrodden community visibility (Joshi, 2017). However, contemporary films are avoiding frontal confrontation of Dalit issues in lieu of entertainment value (Joshi, 2017). The representation of lower-castes in films, especially in the way that they are dressed and the clothing that they wear is significant with regard to their identification in the social order. The word „Dalit‟ has its origins in the Sanskrit word „Dal‟, which means‟ to break‟ or „broken and downtrodden‟ (Devakumar, 2007); the word „Dalit‟ is also associated with „scheduled castes‟ (SCs) in official state language. In Tamil Nadu, Dalits are referred to as the first Dravidians or Adi Dravidar (Racine & Racine, 1998). The „identity politics‟ in the state gave rise to political and social emancipation, embedded in Dravidian reform movements. Tamil cinema then became a platform to propagate Dravidian ideology during the Dravidian movement. 1.1 Tamil Cinema and the Politics of Identity The representation in cinema is a portrayal of the existence of a „being‟. Derrida (Sweetman, 1999) saw the „being‟ grounded in a perception of self, which is partially constructed by the social norm. This characterisation in Tamil Cinema is what Maritian (1962) refers to as the „principal of identity‟. The concept states that „identity is not derived from the structure of the mind but from the structure of reality‟ (Sweetman, 1999). The „structure of reality‟ created by the mind perceives the object according to its actual nature, barring any already constructed ideas of the object in focus (Sweetman, 1999). Derrida‟s (Husserl, 1978) view on identity construction and the part that reality plays is seen in his idea of „beings‟ and external 18 Benson and Shreya Fabric-Rendered Identity environment (Sweetman, 1999). He also states that “all identities, presences, predictions, etc. depend for their existence on something outside themselves, something which is absent and different from them” (Critchlay & Mooney, 1994, 462). “The outside” that Derrida (Husserl, 1978) describes constitutes the social and political aspirations of the Dalits and clothing became one of the material markers for emancipation, with an aspirational quality attached to them (Gupta, 2012). The fabric draped on a Dalit body is a contestation between empowered and disempowered representations in the struggle for social change. Educated Dalits in urban areas have learnt to associate certain kinds of clothing with manhood and emancipation (Gupta, 2012). The codes of clothing are closely tied to modernity and upward mobility for Dalits in the social hierarchy (Gupta, 2012). As Tarlo, (1996) points out, Indian dress codes were hence highly diversified according to caste, class, religion, occupation, education, region and politics (Tarlo, 1996). The Adi Dravidians‟ fight for identity and self-respect in opposition to Brahminical traditions and political institutions came in the form of E.V. Ramaswami Naicker and his self-respect movement in 1925 (Racine & Racine, 1998). These ideas of identity and respect were taken forward by Dravidar Kazhagam (Association of Dravidians), the political party formed by Naicker. The party eventually split, with C.N. Annadurai forming Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Association for the Emancipation of Dravidians) in 1949. DMK relied on cinema and efficient party organisation to mediate their socialist policies and language nationalism (Gorringe, 2011). Nonetheless, it was the entrance of the two film stars and future chief ministers of the southern state in the 1970s and 1980s in politics that made cinema a major player. M. G. Ramachandran and Jayalalitha‟s popularity in Tamil cinema was banked on by the All India Dravidar Anna Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in order to win the elections. In terms of the Tamil film industry, it was only in the 1970s that the emergence of a genre of cinema dedicated to the realistic depiction of rural life on screen came about (Pandian, 2008). Some prominent films like Manam Oru Kurangu (The Heart is a Monkey) by Tamil playwright Cho. Ramaswamy, Kamal Hassan‟s Thevar Magan (Son 19 Artha-Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.16, No. 3 ISSN 0975-329X of Thevar) in 1992, Kizhakku Chimaiyilee (In the Eastern Country) in 1993 heralded the rise of this particular genre. This paper will be concerned with the analysis of three films by Pa. Ranjith: Attakathi (Cardboard Knife)(2012), Madras (2014) and Kabali[1](2016) in order to understand representational politics involving the Dalit community through the clothing that the characters wear in the films. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Dalit Narratives and Religion The „Dalit‟, according to Bharati (2002) is not a caste but an identity, which is constructed and yet a reality beyond denial. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (2015) report for Tamil Nadu shows that the SCs population constitutes 20.01% of the total population. The commission passed a reservation policy of 18% for SC groups in Tamil Nadu to support the upliftment effort of the 76 SC groups in Tamil Nadu. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar saw the attainment of political rights through reservations and conversion to Buddhism as an ideological attack on untouchability against the dominant upper caste Hindus(Racine & Racine, 1998). There are two narratives on how untouchability emerged in Tamil Nadu. One group says that in the Sangam period it was based on birth (Subramaniam, 1966) whereas the other group contests this on the basis of occupational practices (Hanumanthan, 1979). The earliest mentions of Dalits can be found in the Tamil poem, Purananuru[1], which has a reference to Parayan (a term that denotes Scheduled castes in today‟s context). Dr. B.R. Ambedkar unlike Mahatma Gandhi, never adhered to a religious and spiritual approach to attacking untouchability and always advocated for western democracy (Ganguly, 2002). The Bhakti Movement in the 8th century sought to make the relationship between God and his followers personal. It was championed as a way around the caste hierarchy and the ritualistic prescription of the Brahmin priests. However, the movement did not dismantle the caste system. The „untouchable‟ community of Vaishnava and 20 Benson and Shreya Fabric-Rendered Identity Shaivite sect could approach God only after a purifying ordeal (Racine & Racine, 1998). In this way, the Bhakti movement eventually became a part of the orthodox form of Hinduism (Racine & Racine, 1998). 2.2 Representation and the Dalit identity Butler (1990) saw representation as the „normative function‟ of language as it either distorts or reveals the assumed truth. The language surrounding Dalit narratives has a normative function of identity that has been communicated on behalf of the Dalit population. This is visible with the underrepresentation of Dalits on media platforms (Balasubramaniam, 2011). It is also one of many reasons behind the distortion of their issues. As Stuart Hall (1997) expresses, “representations sometimes call our very identities into question. We struggle over them because they matter and these are contests from which serious consequences can flow. They define what is „normal‟, who belongs, and therefore, who is excluded” (p. 10). Therefore, we consider the collective representation which acts as a „social fact‟ (Durkhiem, 1898) that is imposed on Dalits. The social fact is an oppressed lifestyle which makes the Dalit communities