| Pub. Date | : March, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Product Name | : The IUP Journal of English Studies |
| Product Type | : Article |
| Product Code | : IJES41903 |
| Author Name | : Partha Bhattacharjee and Priyanka Tripathi |
| Availability | : YES |
| Subject/Domain | : English Studies |
| Download Format | : PDF Format |
| No. of Pages | : 8 |
The paper begins with the notion that autobiography is the most important and emphatic tool of self-narrative because it is an ideal blend of reality and imagination. Taking its illustrations from Omprakash Valmiki's autobiographical narrative, Joothan: A Dalit's Life, which retells his experiences of torment, neglect, domination, and coercion since his childhood, this paper elucidates the socioeconomic circumstances that not only questioned the Dalit subalternity but also emphasized the importance of constructing a new identity and rewriting history.
George Orwell (Carnahan 2009), in "Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali," writes of autobiography as an amalgamation of the high and low events of life: "An autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats." A Dalit writer's autobiography is a narrative that definitely connotes the pain s/he had to bear on the basis of being not from the socially privileged class according to the ancient varna1 system.