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Accepted Paper:

Everyday Aesthetics and Refashioning of Selves  
Rajan Krishnan (Loyala College)

Paper short abstract:

The paper explores how the capacity of Dalit communities to undertake assertive political action rests not only on their becoming conscious of their social situation but also their potential to effect changes in their life with creative refashioning of selves through every day aesthetic practices.

Paper long abstract:

As part of the larger study of Dalits in rural settings, a set of encounters with Dalit converts to Christianity brought to light some of the changes that occur in the practices of everyday aesthetic as part of the dynamic refashioning of self through conversion. These practices naturally involve the performative aspects of worship and rituals; however, there are more inconspicuous changes that relate to materials and implements used in everyday life sometimes even unconsciously. The understanding of such effects among non-converts points to the intricacies involved in the making of identity bearing self. The boundaries of self, its capacity to define itself appear to rest upon a whole range of household and personal artifacts. The observation can be usefully explored through the notion of "equipmental whole" in Heideggar's philosophy productively invoked by Valentine Daniel in the context of national belonging.

As a corollary to this, Dalits also find it necessary to estrange themselves from some of the ritual performances that seemingly code their subjugated status through typical acts of ritual inversion. I will use the rituals related to Annanmarsami in western Tamil Nadu and contemporary criticisms of the same by Dalit social movements as instances. What needs to be explored is how and under what conditions the performative aspects and their meanings can be changed within the cultural whole without seeking a total departure. In other words, what freezes acts of interpretation is perhaps the urgency with which alternative belonging through aesthetic practices is sought by developing consciousness.

Panel P39
Art and activism in contemporary Dalit and Adivasi movements
  Session 1