Peasants Media Literature
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Dr. V. Sivadasan A leading Left activist with an eventful political career, marked by the mass struggles that he had led from his student days. A former national president of SFI, he was noted for his extensive political interventions, leading agitations, addressing vital socio-economic and political issues. On several occasions, the protest actions have led to his arrest and incarceration in various prisons across the country, including Tihar. He is a notable presence in the public sphere of Kerala through his political and academic interventions and has several articles and writings to his credit in notable journals and newspapers of English and Malayalam. He has done his doctoral research on the historical role played by media and literature in the agrarian transformation witnessed by the Kerala society for which he was awarded Ph.D by the Kannur University. He has successfully completed his post doctoral research from Jawaharlal Nehru University on the Dalit representation in education sector jobs in Kerala focusing on aspects of exclusion and discrimination. He is a member of the Kerala State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and he is functioning as the Director (Independent) of the Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd. BOOKS DC PREFACE History involves an attempt to make sense of the past. It comprises the effort to make sense of the process of advancement of human societies and the dynamics of the interaction of various forces that contribute to the human progress any narration of the past, or for that matter, of the present cannot escape the element of subjectivity the interaction of values and facts is unavoidable in any construction of history the most suitable approach to history is a matter of intense unsettled debate in historiography but the inability of any social theorist to remain value free is almost taken for granted in contemporary historiography. The events get moulded into history through the medium of historical interpretation which involves an unavoidable element of subjectivity. But sanctioning the role whichBOOKS subjectivity plays should not be a carte blanche for relativism. It should not lead one to deny the existence of an objective material truth which is available to us only through the medium of interpretation. At the same time, the search for objective truthDC should not blind us from being aware of the subjectivity of one’s interpretation. That awareness commands candidness on the part of the historian to remain open ended in his intellectual pursuits, to be receptive to the new and varied facts, different and unconventional interpretations, stronger and more compelling logic.But that open endedness should not lead to relativism and the failure to strive for change. A historian cannot afford the luxury of relaxing in the twilight of varied interpretations. It is his/ 9 her duty to fight the darkness with the light of interpretation though with an openness to the possibility of being false. It follows that a historian while conscious of his/her limitations cannot escape from the duty of making his intellectual pursuit a weapon for social change; change from bad to good or from good to better. The urge for change can come only if his subjectivity is inclined to the cause of the least privileged in a society or only if he values equality and social justice as the axiomatic principle of his intellectual pursuit. Equality or inequality can exist only in a concrete objective material context. The progress of the society, the large scale changes which it is undergoing is not obviously the result of individual efforts. The changes are effected by collectivities and they do affect the collectivities. Thus in the myriad things which occur in day to day life, the historian seeks and sees the role of collectivities. But there are collectivities and collectivities, interacting, conflicting and intertwining. In the course of the process of interpreting the basic nature of the social order, the historian has to take a position and the dilemma of the historian will be which collectivity should be privilegedBOOKS in order to explain the social order. In the various approaches to history, Marxism was noted for its emphasis on the role of the collectivity formed on economic basis; i.e. Class and itsDC privileging of the mode of production as the key force to social change. The world is divided into haves and have- nots, in concrete terms the bourgeoisie which had the ownership of the means of production and the proletariat which has nothing but its labour to sell. The capitalist economy surviving on surplus extraction forms the base while other social spheres like politics and culture form the superstructure, and the base is given an explanatory privilege over the superstructure. 10 CHAPTER -- III PRINT MEDIA AND THE SOCIO-POLITICAL AWAKENING Media serves the vital function of communication in human societies. It can play a crucial role in communicating the changes which occur across the world to the masses.Social transformation is impossible without communication. The nature and development of the technologies of communication often denote the stage of development achieved by the human society of a particular era. The development of print media was an epoch making event in human history. In Kerala, it has changed the history of its society beyond recognition and about an unprecedented degree of changes. The role which print media plays in the socio-political awakening process of the state can hardly be overemphasized. The chapter discusses the history of Malayalam media and the efforts taken by the westerners and the IndianBOOKS pioneers. THE HISTORY OF MALAYALAM MEDIA The advent of mass media began in Kerala with the establishment of the printingDC press. The printing press and the technological advances helped the publication of a number of periodicals and newspapers. The history of Malayalam media is dotted with the stories of innumerable newspapers coming to the stage and disappearing. There have been a mind-boggling number of publications out of which only a few have survived till this date. But all of them have made veritable contributions to the progress of history. Most of them had their own political agenda. Some were visibly anti-establishment and intended to bring in social change. 64 Print media and the socio-political awakening Some were intended to be entertainers of the masses or providers of information. But there were strong ideological divisions amongst them. The print media was employed as a tool of political mobilization. The newspapers of the bourgeoisie and working class and the peasantry helped their own classes in respectively achieving their political goals by galvanizing the masses to their respective causes. It has been observed that the print media has done yeoman service to the growth of radical democratic movements in the state. Many of the newspapers which were started initially by social reformers had to face state repression in their fight for civil rights and freedom of speech and expression.187 EFFORTS OF THE WESTERNERS The pioneers of newspaper publishing were the missionaries of Kerala who have brought out newspapers as part of their religious activities. The newspaper188 from the missionaries was started by Dr. Herman Gundert which was named as Rajya Samacharam in June 1847 from Illikunnu near BOOKSTellicherry. The paper was published till December 1850 and it had forty-two issues all together189. The next journal on the line was Paschimodayam, which came out in October, 1847, Fr.MullerDC was its editor. It continued to be published until August 1851. Sathyanada Kahalam was another journal which started its publication from Kunammavu, Ernakulum in 187 Bhragava, G.S. The Press in India an Overview, p.10, National Book Trust, New Delhi, 2005. 188 The Press commission report of 1954 reported that Vikhana Nikshepam in 1840 is the first news paper in kerala. Kerala Charitram, p.771, Vol. II, Cochin, 1974, also see Natarajan, J., History of Indian Journalism, p.76. Publication Division, Government of India, New Delhi, 2000. 189 Thomas M V, Bharatheeya Pathra Charitram(Mal.), p.190, State Institute of languages, Kerala, Thiruvanathapuram , 2005. 65 CHAPTER -- IV LITERATURE AND AGRARIAN QUESTION The present chapter discusses in detail the role of literature and media in representing the agrarian problems of Kerala. The growth of Malayalam literature had its root in the rapid social changes that had began to take place.Human agency has a definite role in influencing social change and the writers through thoughtful interventions can play a strategic role in aiding the forces of change in a society. In this aspect, Kerala witnessed a conscious literary effort on the part of a great number of writers in Kerala.Many of them became the stalwarts of Malayalam literature. There were heated debates in the public sphere about the propriety of litterateurs dabbling in politics. Whatever be the school various litterateurs represented, none of them could ignore the presence of the social upheavals taking place aroundBOOKS them. MALAYALAM LITERATURE AND SOCIETY The period from 1934 to 1971, was one among the most turbulent periods of the socialDC history of Kerala. The strengthening of the national movement, the formation of the Congress Socialist Party, the emergence of the peasant movement, the growth of the Communist ideology and forces of social reform etc. produced a period of intense social change. The agrarian movement of Kerala, in the phase of anti feudal struggles stretching from 1934 to 1971, exerted a great influence upon the cultural sphere of Kerala society. The movements which worked as the fundamental forces of social change had a dialectical relationship with the efforts in Malayalam literature. 127 Peasants Media Literature Literature is organically linked to human life. Human beings conveyed their emotions, hopes, pains and troubles through the medium of literature.