Rejecting Older Trajectory of Subaltern Syndrome: Rise of Dominant Dalit in Cinema

Abstract

In India, elites portray subalterns without any regard for caste in both literature and film. Instead of focusing on caste, they prefer poverty as the main theme, and this is how Dalits are stereotypically depicted by writers and directors. This article attempts to explain the differences between Dalit writers and directors speaking on the same subject as elite writers and directors in the past. Additionally, a comparison is made between the old subalterns and modern subaltern heroes and how writers of various castes have differentiated them. The article’s timeline spans from 1900 to 2020 and examines the role of the hero or heroine assigned to Dalit characters in writings and cinema. The argument begins with the writings of Tagore and Premchand and ends with movies produced until 2020, comparing the conditioning and status of heroines in earlier writings with those in films. Regarding the status of the hero, the article assumes that the oppressed members of Dalit population groups accepted Brahminical domination in precolonial and early-colonial times. Dalit theology and the Bhakti movements exist, but much of their emphasis was on the heroism of Dalits. These points are neither considered nor refuted in the present article. Theoretically, the concepts of ‘subaltern syndrome’ and ‘slave syndrome’ are introduced in this article before it examines how radical changes are taking place in the mindset of new heroes compared to those of the older generation of upper-caste writers. The conclusion establishes that a new discourse in cinema and literature is emerging as Dalits begin to represent themselves.