Stereotyping Dalit Masculinity in Vijay Tendulkar’s Play Kanyadaan (1983)

Abstract

Aims: The paper aims to study the intricate relationship between Dalit dispossession and mental deformity. It explores the role of social experiences and expressions in shaping Dalit Masculinity as unfolded in the play Kanyadaan. It studies the stigma of the caste, the plight of Dalit women, and Dalit politics and unravels stereotypical representations of Dalit masculinity.

Methodology and Approaches: The research is qualitative and analytical. The paper uses existing Dalit literature and R.W Connell's concept of Multiple Masculinities as a theoretical framework and uses feminism and psychoanalysis approaches for textual analysis.

Outcome: The study presents Kanyadaan as an anti-Dalit play and unveils the milieux of class and caste to scrutinise gender and emotional conflict through language and behaviour. It interrogates liberal reformism as an experiment in terms of inter-caste marriage and its impact on women who are doubly marginalised. The study takes into cognisance the role of the Dalit Panther movement and the resurfacing of Dalits in social spaces.  

Conclusion and Suggestions: The article focuses on discarding the one-dimensional treatment of hierarchy, highlights inherent violence and lack of agency for women and brings us closer to the sufferings of an idealist father who sacrificed his daughter at socio-political ideology. In the future, a study of multiple masculinities in other literary texts where the intersectionality between caste and gender exists can be done to develop a nuanced understanding of the complexities involved.