Politico-cultural Consciousness in Mahasweta Devi's The Glory of Sri Sri Ganesh

Abstract

This research explores the oppressive politico-cultural practices and consciousness of lower caste to oppose it in Mahasweta Devi's The Glory of Sri Sri Ganesh (2003). As a renowned Bengali writer for marginal, Devi often reflects oppression of the elite and resistance of the oppressed people. As this notion, Devi has portrayed a harsh reality of then Hindu feudal society in which lower caste and class people face extreme exploitation of upper caste landlords. Characters from lower caste like Lachhima, Rukmani, Haroa, Dusad and Bhangi are living in the miserable condition with little or no property in the oppressive Hindu society, the Barha village. Finally, they jointly struggle against domination of the potent and authoritarian Hindu feudal ruling system after they perceive their socio-economic condition and exploitation of the upper caste landlords, especially Ganesh Singh. For this idea, this research applies B.R. Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste and ideas of Educate, Agitate, and Organize. Overall, the idea related with the caste consciousness and resistance has been framed as the theoretical insights. Key Words: Exploitation, Politico-cultural, Consciousness, Caste, Resistance