A Song by Poykayil Appachan - Dalit Studies
Summary
TLDRIn this lecture, Miss A discusses the poem 'A Song' by Poignant, a Dalit writer and founder of a socio-religious movement. The poem, a song reflecting the struggles of the Dalit community, highlights their lack of representation in historical narratives. Themes of discrimination, caste system, and the quest for justice are explored, questioning societal and divine fairness.
Takeaways
- 📜 The lecture discusses the poem 'A Song' by Poignant, a part of Dalit Studies.
- 👤 Poignant, originally named Spoygal Srikumar Gurudevan, was a Dalit writer and the founder of a socio-religious movement.
- 🌏 Poignant was born in Travancore and later converted to Christianity, being associated with the Mar Thoma Church and the Brethren Mission.
- 📚 The poem is in the form of a song, reflecting the oral tradition, and is translated from Malayalam by A.S Shaker.
- 🏛 The caste system in India historically categorized people into four varnas, with Dalits being the 'broken' or 'oppressed' class.
- 📉 Dalits, also known as 'Untouchables', were marginalized and often overlooked in historical records and literature.
- 🎓 Dalit literature emerged in the 1960s as an expression of Dalit consciousness, challenging the mainstream narratives.
- 📝 The poem 'A Song' begins with the poet lamenting the lack of historical recognition for his community.
- 🤔 The poem raises questions about discrimination, identity, and the role of God in perpetuating social injustice.
- 💬 It emphasizes the poet's personal and communal struggle with caste-based discrimination and the desire for recognition and respect.
- 🔍 The lecture concludes by inviting questions and further discussion on the themes and issues presented in the poem.
Q & A
Who is the author of the poem 'A Song' discussed in the script?
-The author of the poem 'A Song' is Poignant, originally named Spoygal Srikumar Gurudevan.
What significant movement did Poignant found?
-Poignant founded the Pratik Shareksha Devasabha, a socio-religious movement aimed at eliminating discrimination and the caste system.
What is the meaning of the term 'Dalit'?
-The term 'Dalit' means 'broken' or 'oppressed' in Sanskrit and was later used to refer to the 'untouchables' in the Indian caste system.
What is the significance of the paper 'Dalit Studies' in the context of the poem?
-The paper 'Dalit Studies' provides a framework for understanding the socio-political context and the struggles of the Dalit community, which is central to the themes of the poem.
How does the poem 'A Song' reflect the experiences of the Dalit community?
-The poem 'A Song' reflects the experiences of the Dalit community by highlighting their historical invisibility and the discrimination they face, as expressed through the poet's lament for the lack of written history about his race.
What is the role of education in the emergence of Dalit literature?
-Education played a crucial role in the emergence of Dalit literature, as it allowed members of the Dalit community who became literate to write about their own experiences, struggles, and concerns, thus giving voice to their community.
What is the significance of the character Velutha in Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things'?
-Velutha, a character from the Pariah community in Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things', represents the discrimination and ridicule faced by the Dalit community, even after conversion to Christianity.
How does the poem 'A Song' address the issue of caste discrimination?
-The poem 'A Song' addresses the issue of caste discrimination by questioning why the Dalit community is blamed and ostracized, and by challenging the notion of divine justice in the face of ongoing injustice.
What is the main theme of the poem 'A Song'?
-The main theme of the poem 'A Song' is a lament for the lack of recognition and historical representation of the Dalit community, along with a critique of the caste system and societal discrimination.
How does the poem 'A Song' challenge the reader's perspective on the Dalit community?
-The poem 'A Song' challenges the reader's perspective by presenting the Dalit community's experiences and struggles in their own words, thereby humanizing them and inviting empathy and understanding.
What is the poet's response to the historical erasure of the Dalit community?
-The poet responds to the historical erasure of the Dalit community by expressing regret and pain, and by attempting to write their own history and song, thereby reclaiming their narrative.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Dalit Literature and Poet Apache
The video begins with an introduction to the topic of Dalit literature, focusing on the poem 'A Song' by the poet Apache. The speaker, Miss A, is an assistant professor at K A H M Unity Women's College in Manchester. She provides a brief biography of Apache, whose original name was Spoygal Srikumar Gurudevan. Born in 1879, he was a Dalit writer, poet, and the founder of a socio-religious movement. He later converted to Christianity and was associated with the Mathuma Church and the Brethren Mission. The speaker also discusses the caste system in India, the term 'Dalit,' and the emergence of Dalit literature in the 1960s. This literature is distinct from mainstream writings as it represents the perspective of the marginalized, focusing on their struggles and experiences.
📜 The Neglect of Dalit History in Literature
In the second paragraph, the speaker delves into the poem 'A Song' and its significance. The poem starts with a lament about the lack of representation of the Dalit community in historical writings. The poet uses the phrase 'not a single letter seen on my race' to express the absence of any written history about his community. The speaker explains that this is a reflection of the broader neglect of the Dalit community in historical studies. The poet further emphasizes the contrast between the extensive histories of other races and the complete absence of any mention of his own community. This lack of representation is a source of pain and regret for the poet, who feels compelled to add his own voice and melody to the historical narrative, recounting the story of his people in Kerala and their transformation into 'demons' due to societal discrimination.
😔 The Struggles and Discrimination of the Dalit Community
The third paragraph continues the discussion on the poem, highlighting the themes of discrimination and the struggle for identity and recognition. The speaker references Arundhati Roy's novel 'The God of Small Things' to illustrate how Dalits were treated in earlier times. The character Velouta, from the novel, represents the Dalit community's experience with caste discrimination, even after converting to Christianity. The speaker also discusses the historical treatment of Dalits, who were considered 'untouchables' and were subjected to severe social ostracization. The poet questions why his community is blamed and ostracized, despite not having committed any过错 (note: the text seems to have a typo here, possibly meant 'wrongs'). The poem ends with a poignant question directed at God and society, questioning the persistence of injustice and discrimination.
🌐 Conclusion: Reflections on Dalit Literature and its Themes
In the final paragraph, the speaker concludes the discussion on the poem 'A Song' by summarizing its main themes. The poem is described as a lament or expression of disappointment, reflecting the sad plight of the Dalit community and their absence from historical records. The speaker also touches on the personal emotions of the poet and the broader societal context, questioning who should be blamed for the ongoing discrimination and injustice. The speaker invites any further questions or clarifications, emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing the issues raised in Dalit literature.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Dalit
💡Caste System
💡Poignant
💡Dalit Literature
💡Dalit Consciousness
💡Pratik Shareksha Devasabha
💡A. S. Shaker
💡Oral Tradition
💡Discrimination
💡God of Small Things
💡Pariah Community
Highlights
Introduction to the poem 'A Song' by Poignant, part of Dalit Studies.
Biographical details of Apache, original name Spoygal Srikumar Gurudevan, a Dalit writer and poet.
Apache founded Pratik Shareksha Devasabha, a socio-religious movement, and later converted to Christianity.
The poem is in the form of a song, reflecting the oral tradition.
Dalit Studies focuses on the caste system and the marginalized Dalit community in India.
Dalit means 'broken' or 'oppressed', and they were historically known as 'untouchables'.
Gandhiji referred to Dalits as 'Harijans', meaning 'children of God'.
Dalit literature emerged in the 1960s, focusing on the experiences and struggles of the Dalit community.
The poem begins with a lament about the lack of historical records for the Dalit community.
The poet expresses regret that no one has written about the Dalit community's history.
The poem highlights the discrimination and exclusion of Dalits from mainstream society.
The term 'demon' is used to describe the negative connotation associated with Dalits.
Reference to Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things' and the portrayal of caste discrimination.
The poem questions why Dalits are blamed and ostracized despite not being at fault.
The poet challenges the notion of God's justice in allowing such discrimination to persist.
The poem concludes with a question directed at God and society about the ongoing discrimination against Dalits.
Themes of the poem include lament, disappointment, and the struggle for recognition and justice.
Transcripts
hello
good day to one and all this is miss a
krishna sunda assistant professor
department of english k a h m unity
women's college manchester
today we're going to discuss the poem
titled as a song written by poignant and
this is actually a part of
the paper dalit studies
so before moving on to the poem let's
take a brief look at the biographical
details of the writer
apache
his original name is spoygal srikumar
gurudevan and he was born in the year
1879
he was a dalit writer and poet he's also
the founder of pratik shareksha
devasabha which is a socio-religious
movement
he later converted to christianity and
was known as
he was born in travancore he was also
associated with the mathuma church
and the brethren mission
he left everything for a greater cause
which was to eliminate the kind of
discrimination
and caste system that existed
he worked for religious liberation he
was also a part of saudi jana and his
uncle by ayan kali
now this is a title of his work unknown
subjects
songs of poligay lapachin and this was
translated from malayalam by a.s shaker
so the poem is not actually in the form
of a poem
but
rather it is like a song which can be
sung in an oral tradition
so before we get into the details of the
poem a few things about dalit studies
now we all know that india had gone
through a very solid past with caste
system embedded in that so there is a
kind of hierarchy here and a dalit stood
out of the four warners so we are
talking about the vadna system in indian
caste system
and here are the four classifications it
begins with brahmins then comes
shatriyas then vaishyas and sudras so
dalit means broken or oppressed now this
is in fact a sanskrit term and it means
broken or oppressed now later they came
to be known as the untouchables
now it was gandhiji who gave them the
name harijans
so hari here is
the god
so god's children so they were around 40
million bullets at this time when gandhi
was propagating these ideas
now more than that this began with
ambika's mission and
a literature
to face
the issues relating with dalit
consciousness slowly emerged
so the ultimate aim was human freedom
and to get inspired for freedom of life
and
most of these works are not about their
personal experience but more than that
they stand for a whole community
and dalit writings are often different
from mainstream writings
because
till then
it was the upper class society who wrote
about the problems of the marginalized
so therefore there was a difference in
the perspective in which it was seen
because they were not seen through the
eyes of the marginalized but
they were seen through the eyes of the
oppressor themselves
now it was during the 1960s
specifically in marathi language that
dalit literature started emerging
because still then dalits were not
educated they never got education they
never knew how to read and write
so the only writings that came up till
1960s were the writings of the upper
class society and the upper class
society never found time to discuss
the sufferings and struggles of the
lower class group
so from 1960s onwards
the lower class group who got educated
who knew to read and write started
writing about their concerns their
experiences and their struggles now the
slowly paved way for something known as
dalit consciousness so many people from
different communities started
contributing to valid literature and
this is exactly what we see today as
dalit literature
so moving on to the poem
song now this is a very simple poem
no
not a single letter is seen on my race
so many histories are seen on so many
races so this is how the poem begins it
begins with a negative term no
not a single letter seen on my race so
see right from the very first line
onwards the poet is not talking about
his
personal freedom or personal right
in fact he is talking about the entire
struggles that his community has gone
through so not a single letter is seen
on my race which means nobody has
written anything about my community
so many histories are seen on so many
races now if you check a number of
historical books you can see there are
lots of studies and investigations even
research studies done on different races
and ethnic groups if you go to the asian
site or the european side or even the
african side we come across a number of
communities and races which are recorded
as a part of history
but we cannot find any such history in
connection with this valid community so
in fact the poet was lamenting about
this condition
not a single letter a scene on my race
nobody ever bothered to write something
about my community
so many histories are seen on so many
races so there is a comparison made
there are lots of historical studies on
many other communities but
not in our community
scrutinize each one of them the whole
histories of the world
not a single letter is seen on my race
so this is again a reputation the same
meaning comes here scrutinize each one
of them if you do not trust me go and
check the details of the whole histories
of the world so he is not just confining
it to kerala or india he says even if
you check the entire histories of the
world not a single letter a scene on my
race so there is no one who talked about
my community
there was no one on this earth to write
the history of my race in the olden days
what a pity and you can see the
exclamation mark
so he says no one was there to write
about this history now why
the first thing is that the daluts were
never educated then they never knew how
to read and write and therefore nobody
from their community got a chance to
speak about
the struggles that they had gone through
so nobody wrote about my community what
a pity so that was so sad
think of it
regret fills with him
let me add something in my own melody so
whenever i think about this that not a
single line has been written regarding
the history of my community it pains me
i'm feeling pained
regret fills with him because this is
something where you don't have an option
left
this is the past
it is over you can't rewrite the past so
regret fills within
let me add something in my own melody so
let me try saying something else in my
own words
in my own language
the story of a people who lived in
kerala since the ancient times and how
they became demons
so now he says nobody has written
anything
so let me write something about this
community in my own language in my own
song
the story of a group of people who lived
in kerala so this is again dallas since
the ancient times so they were the
inhabitants of this land and they are
very close with these land and nature
because they were working in these
agricultural fields so they had become a
part of the history
culture and economy of kerala long long
back
but
nobody has bothered to write about this
group
and how they became demands so demon is
actually
a negative term a negative connotation
something which is not divine something
that is scary something that is negative
so these people are always considered as
demons which means a bad woman now if
you look at the earlier books written
during the 1960s and 1970s you can
clearly understand how these dalit
people were actually treated now
arundhati roy in her novel her booker
prize winning novel the god of small
things she writes about this segregation
or this kind of a discrimination so
beautifully
now there is a character called velouta
in arundhati roy's god of small things
now willitha belongs to the pariah
community
so he has always been a butt of ridicule
in front of the society
so to overcome this caste discrimination
his family gets converted to
christianity believing that they won't
be discriminated again but things
remained the same because when these
people from pariah community got
converted to christianity
they were not considered as normal
christians instead they were called as
rice christians which means
they separated the rice christians as a
different group
they had separate churches they had
separate places to live in so in every
walk of life they were discriminated
even after getting converted
to christianity so this kind of a
discrimination or a categorization
existed in india long long back so you
might have seen in movies where these
dalits were not allowed to use umbrellas
and sometimes when an upper class person
was
coming up they had to crawl backwards
and their foul breath should not reach
the upper class person they were totally
negated from the normal walk of life
and in a way you can see they were
known as untouchables
so this is the history that the poet is
talking about
those people who once served in these
agricultural lands they were considered
as
bad almonds later
no shame have i to say the falls of my
cast so i'm being very open here even if
there had been some mistakes done my
done by my community i can openly say
that i don't have any shame for that
though all blame me a cursed offspring
on earth
so whenever an untouchable is seen
that person is considered as a cursed
offspring on earth because nobody wants
to see them and nobody wants to take
care of them
how is it possible that all blame us
so this is a very beautiful question
that the poet is asking how is it
possible that all blame us what have we
done
we haven't done any mistakes
the only thing we did was even without
our knowledge we were born into this
kind of a community so how is it
possible that all blame us
till the end of earth and sky
so
why are people blaming us
and from one end to the other of earth
and sky means wherever they go they are
ridiculed and they are completely
relegated to the background
how can god who shaped everything and
love this to happen on earth today so
this is a question which is posed
towards god
it can also be considered as a question
that is posed towards each one of us
how can god who shaped everything i love
this to happen on earth today now even
today when we talk about
cars discrimination legal rights
constitutional rights we still know
there are lots and lots of people who
still carry this kind of an attitude in
their mind so even if discrimination is
not existing externally
internally in the mindset of a lot of
people this kind of a discrimination is
still relevant
so he's asking a question how can god do
this and we all know that god is not
always just and sometimes we feel there
is a kind of injustice in the way in
which god is treating everything in this
world so this is the same question that
he is asking how can god who shaped
everything and love this to happen on
earth today so why is god becoming
unjust
or why is justice not met by god because
even today despite all these arguments
systems and law and constitutional
rights
dalits are still treated as dalits or as
untouchables
so with a question towards god with a
question towards the society he
concludes the poem
so some of the main themes in the poem
this is a song of lament or
disappointment
now this is the sad plight of his race
and they do not have a place in history
and
from community to personal emotions the
poet is discussing things
and the final question like who should
be blamed is it the god
is it the people around
or is it the dullet themselves or is it
the society around them
so with this we come to the end of this
pool so thank you very much for your
patient listening in case if you've got
any doubts clarifications or if you need
any more assistance please do not
hesitate to connect with me so thank you
very much thank you
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