Dalit Aesthetics powerpoint presentations

Materialism
Modernity / Modernism
Enlightenment
Realism
Protest / Insurgent Aesthetics (Dalit)

Texts
• Sharad Kumar Limbale, Towards an Aesthetics of Dalit Literature
• Dilip Chitre, edited, Namdeo Dhasal: Poet of the Underworld
• Anupama Rao, “The Word and the World: Dalit aesthetics as a critic of everyday life”
• Aniket Jaaware, “Eating, and Eating with, the Dalit”
• Toral Jatin Gajarawala, Untouchable Fictions: Literary Realism and the Crisis of Caste

Sanskrit root “dal”
• broken, ground-down, downtrodden, or oppressed

Varna __________ Class
Jati ______ Birth

Subalterns
• Harijans / untouchables / atishudras
• Adivasis
• Landless farm labours
• Slum dwellers
• Nomadic and criminal tribes
• Refugees

• Satyam Shivam Sundaram
• Sat Chit Ananda
• Aham Brahmasmi

Dalit Aesthetics
• The concept of aesthetics in India is often linked with Brahmanical
ideologies that define what is beautiful, pure, and divine.
• However, for Dalits, aesthetics has always been shaped by the harsh
realities of their social and economic conditions. Dalit aesthetics is not
merely about aesthetic pleasure but reflect the lived experiences of
struggle, resistance, and survival.
• The beauty in Dalit art comes from a place of resilience, innovation, and
an unyielding desire for self-expression, even in the face of oppression.
• These art forms are, in many ways, born out of necessity, a means of
survival, and a way to preserve community culture and solidarity.

• Mainstream Indian aesthetics, heavily influenced by Brahmanical norms, often
focus on ideals of purity, divinity, and transcendence.
• Traditional forms of Indian art, such as classical dance and music, are often
seen as divine, structured, and linked with religious rituals.
• In contrast, Dalit aesthetics embraces a different kind of beauty that is often
earthy, raw, and unapologetic. These art forms are not constrained by rigid
classical structures or the pursuit of divine ideals.
• Instead, they celebrate life in all its complexities, including pain, joy, resistance,
and celebration.
• The Dalit perspective on art is not just about transcendence but about making
sense of and finding meaning in the immediate, the worldly, and the practical.

• Dalit aesthetics goes beyond mere artistic expression; it serves as a
form of resistance to the dominant cultural norms that seek to
suppress Dalit identities.
• The very act of creating and performing art within Dalit communities
is an act of reclaiming dignity and power.
• This resistance is not just against the social hierarchies of caste but
also against the cultural and artistic hierarchies that have historically
marginalized Dalit art forms.

• The Shramana tradition, which emerged as a counterpoint to the
dominant Brahmanical society, holds a significant place in the
development of Dalit economic and political ideals.
• Rooted in ancient Indian philosophical movements such as Buddhism,
Jainism, and materialism (represented by thinkers like Charvak), this
tradition emphasized asceticism, critical thinking, and the rejection of
rigid social hierarchies.
• For Dalits, who were historically marginalized under the caste system, the
Shramana tradition provided a vision of an egalitarian society, free from
oppression, where individuals could transcend societal constraints in their
pursuit of truth and liberation.

Lokayata / Carvaka
• In its most generic sense, “Indian Materialism” refers to the school of thought
within Indian philosophy that rejects supernaturalism.
• It is regarded as the most radical of the Indian philosophical systems. It rejects the
existence of other worldly entities such an immaterial soul or god and the after-
life.
• Its primary philosophical import comes by way of a scientific approach to
metaphysics.
• Thus, it rejects ethical systems that are grounded in supernaturalistic cosmologies.
• The good, for the Indian materialist, is strictly associated with pleasure and the
only ethical obligation forwarded by the system is the maximization of one’s own
pleasure.

• Literally, “Lokāyata” means philosophy of the people. The term was
first used by the ancient Buddhists until around 500 B.C.E. to refer to
both a common tribal philosophical view and a sort of this-worldly
philosophy or nature lore (Svabhava).
• Cārvāka and Ajita Kesakambalin are said to have established Indian
Materialism as a formal philosophical system, but some still hold that
Bṛhaspati was its original founder. Bṛhaspati authored the classic
work on Indian Materialism, the Bṛhaspati Sῡtra. Indian Materialism
has for this reason also been named “Bṛhaspatya.”

• Our observation does not bring forth any instance of a disincarnate
consciousness. For the manifestation of life and consciousness, body
is an inalienable factor.
• That body is the substratum of consciousness can be seen in the
undoubted fact of the arising of sensation and perception only in so
far as they are conditioned by the bodily mechanism.
• The medicinal science by prescribing that certain foods and drinks
(such as Brāhmighrta) have the properties conducive to the
intellectual powers affords another proof and evidence of the relation
of consciousness with body and the material ingredients (of food)

Raphael’s Aristotle and Plato, School of Athens

Plato (left) and his student Aristotle

• Despite the large number of philosophical schools and their nuances, all
philosophies are said to fall into one of two primary categories, defined in
contrast to each other:
• Idealism and Materialism
• The basic proposition of these two categories pertains to the nature of reality:
the primary difference between them is how they answer two fundamental
questions—what reality consists of, and how it originated.
• To idealists, spirit or mind or the objects of mind (ideas) are primary, and
matter secondary.
• To materialists, matter is primary, and mind or spirit or ideas are secondary—
the product of matter acting upon matter.

Materialism
• Materialism holds that matter is the fundamental substance in nature
, and that all things, including mental states and consciousness, are
results of material interactions of material things.
• mind and consciousness are caused by physical processes, such as
the neurochemistry of the human brain and nervous system, without
which they cannot exist.
• Materialism directly contrasts with idealism, according to which
consciousness is the fundamental substance of nature.
• Materialism is closely related to physicalism—the view that all that
exists is ultimately physical.

• Greek pre-Socratics
• Thales
• Parmenides
• Leucippus
• Democritus
• Epicurus

The Break with Tradition
Buddhism
Bhakti
Modernism

Buddhism BC 5th
• The Four Noble Truths
• Dukkha (dissatisfaction)
• Samudāya (the origin of suffering: Desire): Clinging and Aversion
• Nirodha (the cessation of suffering): Realisation, possibility
• Magga (the path to end suffering)

Solution: The Eight-Fold Path
• Right Understanding - Sammā ditthi
• Accepting Buddhist teachings. (The Buddha never intended his followers to
believe his teachings blindly, but to practise them and judge for themselves
whether they were true.)
• Right Intention - Sammā sa kappa
n̄
• A commitment to cultivate the right attitudes.
• Right Speech - Sammā vācā
• Speaking truthfully, avoiding slander, gossip and abusive speech.
• Right Action - Sammā kammanta
• Behaving peacefully and harmoniously; refraining from stealing, killing and
overindulgence in sensual pleasure.

• Right Livelihood - Sammā ājīva
• Avoiding making a living in ways that cause harm, such as exploiting people or
killing animals, or trading in intoxicants or weapons.
• Right Effort - Sammā vāyāma
• Cultivating positive states of mind; freeing oneself from evil and
unwholesome states and preventing them arising in future.
• Right Mindfulness - Sammā sati
• Developing awareness of the body, sensations, feelings and states of mind.
• Right Concentration - Sammā samādhi
• Developing the mental focus necessary for this awareness.

• Prakrit is a term that refers to any language other than the standard one, Sanskrit.
• Pali is an archaic or old form of Prakrit that combines several existing dialects. The first
Buddhist works were written in Pali, the language spoken in Magadha and South Bihar.
• It is said that Buddha delivered his sermons in Pali, and they have been recorded in the
same language.
• These languages rose to prominence when Buddhist and Jain religious literature was
written in them.
• Pali was used for the dissemination of Buddhistic ideas, whereas Prakrit was used for
the dissemination of Jain doctrines.
• Both languages highlighted the linguistic diversity in ancient India and led to the
development of new literary genres.

Bhakti Movement 7th
c onwards
(Protestantism)
• Madara Chennayya, Kabir, Tulsidas, Ravidas, Mirabai, Guru Nanak, Sankardev
• Bhakti, often associated with intense devotion to a personal god, is much more than
a religious practice. For the Dalits, historically marginalized and oppressed in India,
Bhakti emerged as a powerful tool for spiritual liberation and social transformation.
• Unlike the traditional, hierarchical rituals that often excluded them from religious
spaces, Bhakti provided a radically inclusive path that emphasized personal devotion,
love for the divine, and inner purity.
• Bhakti evolved into a people-centric philosophy, offering Dalits a platform for both
spiritual autonomy and social dignity.

• One of the most transformative aspects of the Bhakti movement was its
insistence on direct access to God. In the traditional religious framework,
spiritual progress was mediated through priests, rituals, and caste distinctions.
Bhakti, on the other hand, offered a path where individuals could directly
connect with the divine through personal devotion. This notion resonated
deeply with Dalits, who had been excluded from traditional religious practices
and places of worship.
• Saints like Namdev and Kabir embodied this idea, emphasizing that the Divine
is within everyone and can be approached through sincere devotion,
regardless of one’s social standing. For Dalits, this direct connection to God
was not just a theological shift; it was a means of asserting their equality and
humanity in a world that had long denied them both.

• The Bhakti movement led to devotional transformation of medieval
Hindu society, and Vedic rituals or alternatively ascetic monk-like
lifestyle for moksha gave way to individualistic loving relationship with
a personally-defined god.
• Salvation, which had been considered attainable only by
Savarna castes, became available to everyone.
• The Bhakti movement provided women and members of
the Shudra and untouchable communities an inclusive path to
spiritual salvation.

Madara Chennayya, 11th
c
“If words and deeds are firm
There is no pollution of race or birth.
If words are good and deeds are bad, that is pollution without
liberation.
Righteousness is high caste, unrighteousness is pollution.”

Basavanna, 12th
c
“The rich
will make temples for Shiva,
What shall I,
a poor man do?
My legs are pillars,
the body the shrine,
the head a cupola of gold.
Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.”

Sant Pipa, 15th
c
• Within the body is the god, the temple,
within the body all the Jangamas
within the body the incense, the lamps, and the food-offerings,
within the body the puja-leaves.
After searching so many lands,
I found the nine treasures within my body,
Now there will be no further going and coming,
I swear by Rama.”

Modernism
• Karl Marx 1818-1883 (Germany)
“Religion is the opium of the people.”
• Charles Darwin 1808-1882 (Great Britain)
• Friedrich Nietzsche 1844 – 1900 (Germany)
“God is dead”
• Sigmund Freud 1856-1939 (Austria)

Practice
“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the
point however, is to change it.”

Historical Materialism
“Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they
please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by
themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given and
transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations
weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.”

“Men's ideas are the most direct
emanations of their material state.”

• “The mode of production in material life determines the general
character of the social, political, and intellectual processes of life.”
• “It is not the consciousness of men which determines their existence;
it is on the contrary their social existence which determines their
consciousness.”

“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history
of class struggles.”
Master / Slave
Overlord / Serf
Bourgeoisie / Proletariat
Coloniser / Colonised

The relationship between social classes is:
• Unequal
• Exploitative
• Founded on a "conflict of interest”

“The ruling ideas of each age have ever
been the ideas of its
ruling class”

Alienation
• Man is a creative worker.
• With the emergence of private property, man is alienated from the
following:
a) the product of his labour
b) from the act of producing
c) from himself as a producer
d) from other producers

Dalit Aesthetics powerpoint presentations

More Related Content

Similar to Dalit Aesthetics powerpoint presentations

Recently uploaded

Dalit Aesthetics powerpoint presentations