A Study Of Hindi Dalit Writer Omprakash Valmiki's Writing

Caste is a social phenomenon unique to India.Castes divide the Indian people into thousands of isolated social groups,and the caste system derived from religion gives these social groups high and low distinctions,forming a social hierarchy based on occupation.The untouchability system is a part of the caste system,which deprives the “untouchables” of the right to be a human being,causing them to suffer political oppression and social discrimination for a long time.In ancient India,high caste monopolized education and culture,and “untouchables” were reduced to be “unspeakable downtrodden”.Although several poets of "untouchable" origins appeared in the Middle Ages in India,their works are just like fluorescent lights in the dark,and they have not entered the category of mainstream writing.After the British colonists conquered India,the caste system lost its judicial and administrative legal status,the consciousness of the “untouchable” group gradually awakened and their literary creation sprouted.During the Indian national independence movement,Gandhi and the leader of the “untouchable” Ambedkar had great differences on the issue of the religious affiliation of the “untouchable”.Gandhi believed that the “untouchable” group should belong to “Hindu”,while Ambedkar believed that the “untouchable” should enjoy the same status as Hindus and Muslims.Gandhi's political views have received a positive response in the Indian literary world.A group of Indian writers have created a large number of literary works with the theme of “writing the ‘untouchable'”.In the process of exploring ethnic identity,"untouchables" chose the term “Dalit(depressed)” as their identity label.After India's independence,the Dalit intellectuals gradually grew up,and in the 1970 s,they launched the Dalit Panther Party movement,which is an affirmative movement that spans politics,culture,religion and literature.Dalit writers have extensively absorbed the creative experience of black literature and played an important role in the construction of Dalit ethnic identity and the awakening of the struggle consciousness of the subaltern,and promoted the formation of modern Dalit literature.In the process of Marathi Dalit literature that emerged in Maharashtra spreading to other language belts in India,Hindi writer Omprakash Valmiki(abbreviated as Valmiki)played an important role in introducing and translating.Valmiki has not only translated several collections of Marathi Dalit poems,but also created a large number of Dalit poems and short stories in Hindi.His autobiography “Joothan” is one of the most influential works of Indian Dalit literature.In addition to being translated into many local Indian languages,it has also been translated into English,Chinese,German,Swedish and other foreign languages,and let Indian Dalit literature have a global influence.On the basis of thoroughly reading all of Valmiki's works,this dissertation takes writings of Hindi writer Valmiki as an example to conduct in-depth research on Hindi Dalit literature.The introduction sorts out the research status of this subject and analyzes the basic concepts involved in the dissertation;the first chapter summarizes the important contributions of Valmiki to the development of Hindi Dalit literature,and provides background knowledge for the later analysis of Dalit literature;the second chapter is based on Valmiki's four poems anthologies “Sadiyon Ka Santap” “Bas! Bahut Ho Chuka” “Ab Aur Nahin” and “Shabd Jhut Nahin Bolte” as the research objects,comments on the reconstruction of Dalit's poems on Indian classic poems and epic stories,and analyzes the practical function of Dalit's poems--criticizing the caste system,shaping Dalit's dignity and awakening Dalit's consciousness of struggle;the third chapter takes Valmiki's two short stories anthologies “Salam” and “Ghuspaithiye” as the research objects,and analyzes the writing of marginal people,women's liberation and rewriting rape,and points out that Dalit literature has problems such as formulaic writings;the fourth chapter takes Valmiki's autobiography “Joothan” as the research object,analyzes Dalit's identity construction,group psychological trauma healing,changes of caste system and evolution of Dalit intellectuals' mindset;the fifth Chapter studies the impact and reconstructing of Dalit literature on Indian literature,mainly from Dalit literature's protesting and re-reading of ancient Hindu classics,the re-characterization of Medieval Bhakti literature,the development of Dalit literature before India's independence and the reconstruction of Indian literature by modern Dalit literature.By combing through the development of Hindi Dalit literature and analyzing individual texts,this dissertation clarifies the following issues: Firstly,it digs deep into Valmiki's literary writings,and thoroughly shows the development process and various aspects of literary genre of Hindi Dalit literature,the research field includes psychological trauma,identity politics,marginal writing,female narrative and other themes;secondly,it uses the perspective of Dalit literature to examine Indian politics.Dalit literature is an important part of the Dalit movement and a highly ideological political literature with clear social and political demands.The multiple identities faced by contemporary Indian citizens,such as secular citizens,Hindus and “Dalit”,Dalit literature has played a dual role of political propaganda and historical research for the construction of a new identity for the subaltern of the Indian society;thirdly,it is to explore the sociological and anthropological material value of texts from literary works.Sociological and anthropological investigations of Indian castes have always been a hot spot in the academic circle.After stripping off the political propaganda attached to the text,the subtle records of Dalit's life in Dalit literature help us to investigate Indian castes in depth.The inter-ethnic relationship of the society provides detailed materials for the study of Indian society and caste system.