Counterhegemonic consciousness in the representative songs of Ralpha literary movement

Abstract

The research examines the counterhegemonic consciousness in the selected songs of Ralpha Literary Movement. Simultaneously, it studies the rhetoric of agency formation of the subjugated class that Ralpha songs express against the dominant class. Ralpha’s aesthetics in singing people’s songs seek agency against the hegemonic bloc- the Panchayat system. Using Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, counterhegemony and the role of intellectuals and also incorporating Gayatri Chakravatry Spivak’s notion of representation and Louis Althusser’s idea of the state ideology and apparatus as the critical framework of interpretation and analysis, the research concludes in finding that the songs of Ralpha are instrumental in actualizing counterhegemonic consciousness even though emerged within the hegemonic structures propelled by the powerful state agencies to the extent of high censorship. Then, this study makes the group activism positioned to academics to understand the resistance dynamics in Nepal’s politico-cultural situation before and after 1960s. Finally, it faciitates the understanding of group activism through literary writings and opens up opportunities and possibilities of studying the impacts and dynamics of similar other micro-political resistances in various historical eras neglected in the national history. Key words: Hegemony, subaltern, intellectuals, resistance and agency.