Centre versus
Periphery
Manprasad Subba
I
In conflict with each other are Centre
and Margin from time immemorial. We hear the noises of such conflicts galore in
history; we see them enacted in religious scriptures and mythologies. Gods and
goddesses stand as the centre of power while demons and human beings are seen
driven to the periphery and controlled and governed by the centre. An act of
divine trick that deprived the demons of ambrosia of immortality churned out
with the combined force of gods and demons is a symbolic example of exploitation
and marginalization at the hands of those at the centre of power. Biting of the
forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge by Eve and Adam, (although incited
by Satan), may be interpreted as a subconscious act of rebellion against the
centralization of knowledge (power).
There was a time in history of our
country when the so-called upper-most caste of the Brahmin had absolute control
over the scriptures such as the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Ramayana, the
Mahabharata and the like. These Scriptures, if touched by the so-called untouchables,
used to be said to have become ‘defiled’. Thus, for centuries, the knowledge
and wisdom contained in these scriptures remained exclusively centralized with
some privileged class. Similarly, the art of war and statesmanship were also
made to be the exclusive domain of none other than the Kshatriya caste. The
story of Eklavya, a young enthusiastic forest dweller with no class of
distinction, who, when approaching Guru Drona for himself to be initiated as
his disciple, was scoffed at and rejected by the latter and years later when
Eklavya, placing an image of Drona in his forest shrine to draw inspiration
from, attained the great art of bow-and-arrow, how he was guilefully robbed of his
hard-earned mastery of shooting by the elitist Drona, is a story that never
loses its relevance.
By confining the knowledge -- a main
source of power -- and wielding it as a unique weapon, a play of driving others
to the fringe used to be openly played earlier while the same play is executed today
in some covert manner.
II
Against the centuries old
marginalization in the name of religion and caste, those trampled under the
feet of superstitious tradition came up with ‘Dalit Panther Movement’ in
Maharashtra in 1972. It may be said that the Movement was inspired by the
Afro-American ‘Black Panther Party’ that emerged in the 60s of the last
century. However, the Dalit Panther Movement was developed with its own typical
concepts in the Indian context. Now the word Dalit, literally meaning
oppressed, began to be interpreted to denote not only those placed at the
lowest rung of the Vedic caste-system or the indigenous tribal and aboriginals
who are outside the caste system, but suggested entire sections of the people
being oppressed, deprived and marginalized. Dalit Panther Movement gave them a formidable
theoretical ground to stand on protesting consciously and courageously dismissing
the belief in gods and goddesses, previous birth and re-birth, Holy Scriptures,
fate and heaven and hell for these beliefs and concepts, for ages, did nothing
to the oppressed but devalued and dehumanized their lives, tortured them with
never-ending deprivation and humiliation. Out of such bold conceptual ideas
emerged the Dalit literary theory. It is quite likely that it was influenced by
and drew inspiration from American Black literature of the 60s. Martin Luther
King who stood tall against the marginalization of the coloured people in the
USA and legendary Nelson Mandela who fought for decades against the draconian
apartheid policy in South Africa also might have been the symbolic source of
inspiration to Dalit creative writings.
III
Man yearns to be in the centre of power
on various levels – individual, social, gender-based, ethnic, national, global.
The power centering round the individual in a family may go expanding towards
the social institutions and further towards the nation. And from there roars
the autocracy whose centralized power may create a wide periphery and the
consequential wide chasms to which autocracy’s vision may turn completely
myopic.
Power-centralization in a society is
often seen with those who are hard-core traditionalist or so-called moralists. There
was a time when lepers were driven out of the human settlements. Segregated far
away from the societies, they were believed to have been inflicted with divine
curse. Discriminating dark traditional customs created by the so-called
upper-lower caste system has not been, even today, fully eradicated in the
Indian sub-continent. We are still not free from the haunts of evil spirits of
heartless judgments meted out by the likes of ‘moralist’ Khap-panchayats in the
north-west parts of the country.
Such a traditional moral-policing power
in a society or a community plays a static role of resistance to the moves that
ask questions to the former. They want the society (community) to remain
tightly tied under their ‘moral’ dominance. However, along the peripheral line
the accusing questions keep growing with their heads held high. By standing
fearlessly against the blind centralist force the periphery draws sustenance of
life.
IV
Almost in every society or community we
see the male hegemony established. As the male folks gave themselves place
higher than their female counterparts in the families and in the societies, practice
of gender-based marginalization started, history of which is as old as human
civilization. Stories of female voice choked by male-dominant societies are
ample in the religious scriptures and histories. Mythological stories such as
innocent Sita’s exile by God-incarnate Ram, Draupadi’s compulsion of accepting
all five brothers (Pandava) as her husbands, her physical existence being
gambled away as a bet and Duhshashana’s attempt of stripping her in the royal
assemblage that witnessed the scene of outrage absolutely mutely, are a sort of
the base of male hegemony over the Indian women. More than that, worshipping of
Lord Shiva’s Phallus may also be taken as a symbol of mystified and spiritualized
foundation of male dominance. At one side of the famous Pashupatinath temple
complex in Kathmandu there is a life-size metal image of Bhairava with a male
genital organ in full erection which is believed to have the divine power
making barren women pregnant if they lean their belly on it. This act may also
be considered as Hindu women’s psychological submission to the male supremacy.
On the basis of domineeringly gender bias,
men have projected themselves as active, strong, intelligent, bold and creative
while women are commonly introduced as coward, weak, sentimental, receptive and
conventional. In the context of his mother, Prince Hamlet putting forward the human
quality of frailty as synonymous with the whole of women community, cried,
“Frailty, thy name is woman!”
In Oriental mythologies woman is
presented as very ideal, utmost loyal to her husband, extremely tolerant,
helpless and dependent; or, above human being such as goddesses (Durga, Laxmi,
Saraswati, Parvati, Kaali), fairy ( Menaka, Urvasi) or demoniac characters like
Suparnakha , Holika etc. In Occidental mythologies too female character is often
seen as idealized, submissive and helpless or the source of evil elements in
the forms of Eve and Pandora and also as negative characters of Circe and
Delilah. Poet Bhanubhakta Acharya, father of Nepali literature, his colossal
contribution apart, advised Hindu Nepali women- “Drink water that has washed
your husband’s feet” and warned women who merrily laughed- “Refrain from laugh,
for only prostitute laughs.” Not content with that he translated from Sanskrit
the verses of Prashnottarmala (Catechism) a couple of lines of which run thus:
“Which is the main door to Hell? Woman / Who charms and leads to Hell.” Proverbs
like ‘To be born as girl is to lose one’s destiny’ and ‘Girls are but to wash
other’s wall’ used to be heard in Nepali-speaking societies for a long period. When
a woman put forth an intelligent argument, male ego would sarcastically
comment: ‘Hen crowing!’ There is a devotional song in Hindi that says ‘Barren
woman be blessed with a baby-boy’ which the God-fearing Hindu women listen to
with great devotion. All these are the expressions of patriarchal tradition. It
is quite common that woman, after marriage, loses her surname and has to adopt
her husband’s family name; the baby born of them is given its father’s surname
in spite of the fact that husband and wife both have equal roles to play in
bringing the baby into its physical existence. Moreover, mother has played
greater role since it is she who conceives and develops it in her womb for nine
long months and gives birth to it. Should she not have greater right to the
baby? But the culture built up in patriarchal line has shorn the women of their
fundamental right. Will they ever be able to retrieve this right?
Mythical story of Krishna and hundreds
of Gopinis, if put under the feministic view point, may also be seen as a form
with centre (Krishna) and periphery (Gopinis).
Despite the publication of a few books
of women’s movement claiming equal rights in the West in the 19th
century, feminism as a discourse made its strong presence felt in literature
only in the ’70s of the last century. Since then the reality as to how women
have incessantly been treated as ‘other’ or as ‘objects’ in relation to men for
ages, began to be seriously studied. Defying the male presence at the centre,
the social and cultural relevance of gender discrimination began to be
questioned. Celebrated feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir said, “One is not
born but rather becomes, a woman… It is civilization as a whole that produces
this creature… which is described as feminine.” In other words, one, be it son
or daughter, is born a human being, but later a number of customs, manners and
taboos are thrust on the basis of gender. And robbed of her humanity she
becomes a woman who is considered as a subordinate to a man or a supplementary
to man’s desire. This is how her place in the society is rendered marginal. Standing
against this marginality the Feminism resists every form of gender bias.
On theoretical level several aspects of
feminist concept have been developed. Some of the feminist critics have put
forth the subtle studies of marginalization of woman even linguistically. They
have drawn their attention to the masculine words like ‘man’ or ‘mankind’ used
for human beings; similarly for the words like God, inventor, creator which are
above gender, are denoted with the masculine pronouns like ‘He’, ‘His’. They
point out that all the languages in the West are male-centric and
male-dominated. ‘Phallogocentric’ is what Jacques Lucan has called such pattern
of language. Nepali language, too, is not free from being a male-centric. So,
today’s feminists, with all their subtlety and sensibility, are looking deep
into every perspective of the reality of their being marginalized.
V
There are the stories of racial /
communal marginalization of minority and underdeveloped community by the
majority / developed / power-wielding race / community. There are the
communities struggling hard on the margin to save themselves from the constant
onslaught of powerful and advanced communities who tend to oppress and push the
former into deprivation. Uyghur community in the north-east of China has long
been struggling to win back a free space for itself from the oppression of the
powerful and privileged Han. Down south of the same country Tibetans have long
been confronting the political-cultural marginalization. Bhutanese of Nepali
origin were forced out of Bhutan by the ruling community two decades ago. There
are countless of ethnic groups or communities who, in their own respective
countries, face identity crisis, their respective language and culture being
pushed to the brink of extinction, being subjected to various discriminations. These
are the acts or designs of internal colonization or cultural marginalization.
We hear at times the groins of agony coming across from the western province of
Baluchistan suffering from internal colonization.
Movement for identity vis-à-vis Nepali
speaking Indians, too, erupts from time to time from such feeling of being
marginalized. In some parts of its own region this politically crippled
community has lost its numerical significance falling prey to some cunning play
of demographic liquidation just like hundreds of tribal groups have been
rendered critically insignificant in their regions. The ethnic groups or
communities thus pushed to the fringes by the centrality of internal
colonialism, when at some point of time they become aware of their plight, cry
protest and arise to assert themselves. Their movements may yield good results
or succumb to the state repression or some sort of appeasements. Even if the
movements fail, their protest, their demur will remain in their psyche like a
dormant volcano which, in future, may suddenly become active and start spewing
smoke and vapor, if not burst.
VI
Internal colonialism may be defined as a
developed form of domineering nature that grows like thorns out of the basic
beastly nature inherent in man and the international shape of the same is
called colonialism which may be explained as an expression of unrestrained
ambitiousness growing out of the hegemonic nationalism. The competitive
scramble to establish unchallenged power by colonizing other countries had not
been seen so much as in the 18th and 19th centuries. And
no other countries played so extensively the role of such colonization than the
European countries. By the end of the First World War, 85% of this planet Earth
was colonized by Europeans, says Edward Said.
The natives, once fallen into colonial
system, become alienated in their own land like the house-cockroach flushed out
by the wild cockroach. In a colonized country the colonizer stands at the
centre clutching all the power while the colonized are placed at the circumference.
However, the circumference while moving round strives towards the centre to
redeem what is lost and the centre, using all the force at its disposal, keeps
thwarting every attempt made from the fringe.
Well-thought out plans and programmes are
executed to strengthen the process of colonial centralization. Constant efforts
are made to sufficiently influence and affect native ideas and concepts by
penetrating into not only the military and economic strength but equally the
educational and cultural foundations. This is how the socio-cultural values of
a colonized nation become unstable and endangered. “Indian in blood and colour,
but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect”- was Lord
Macaulay’s colonial tip to British Empire. They used to idealize their colonial
campaign as “white man’s burden”. The Europeans, who established colonial rule
in America in the sixteenth century and over Africa and Asia in the 18th
century, regarded themselves as the only civilized and supreme beings on earth.
The civilizations and cultures other than theirs were ‘barbarism’ to them and
they called their successful campaigns of colonization a ‘triumph of
civilization over barbarism’. In this manner many cultures were destroyed in
North America, Africa and Asia. Some rose to resist, a few have attempted to
revive from the state of near extinction. American aboriginals lost not only
their cultures but their very land. The way of life and cultural values of their
one-time colonizers became the mainstream culture and the former natives have
become ‘other’.
Although decades of sustained struggle
for ‘the right of uncontrolled self-determination’ brought down the curtain to
colonial rule in many countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America after the
World War II ended, there began another long struggle to be free from the
colonial legacy of western values and systems that has prevailed so formidably.
In the psyche of all the previously colonized nations of Africa and Asia the
European (White) socio-cultural value system was so well rooted that it caused
not only the marginalization of indigenous or ethnic value-system but the
former colonized people’s changed viewpoint had begun to look down upon their
own traditional/ cultural values and this mindset still persists to some
extent. There were, and still are, occidental spectacles on oriental eyes to
look at everything. Due to the fact that human beauty, since the cultural
invasion carried out in colonial period, is usually defined by white-skinned
European looks, cosmetic products like ‘Fair & Lovely’ cream are doing very
good business in Indian sub-continent. By that standard all the Africans and
Asians with black and brown complexions are categorized as ugly! It is not long
ago that any agricultural / livestock product big in size, strong and smooth
used to be called ‘Bilayati’ (English) in Hindi and Nepali. The same name was
commonly used for cement as well. And everything small, feeble, rough and
unattractive was called ‘Deshi’ (native). In the widespread preference of colonizer’s
life-style and attires, the native way of life and apparels have been put into
the showcase to be displayed only on some special occasions.
Indigenous value to determine the beauty
of an object rendered crippled under the pressure of western hegemony and the
efforts to revive the lost value along with the re-discovery of indigenous /
native value by demolishing the western concept of oriental countries are found
to have been studied in the discourse of postcolonialism. This kind of study
was developed in its theoretical shape by Edward Said in his Orientalism
(1978).The conceptual system of study of oriental life and world by the
prejudicial western hegemony is what Said named Orientalism.
East is East and West is West, and never
the twain shall meet
Till earth and Sky stand presently at
God’s Great judgement Seat.
-
Rudyard
Kipling
Such prejudicial non-inclusive minds, by
creating binary opposition between East and West, have, in a calculated manner,
marginalized the oriental traditions and culture, ideas and systems. This is
what is exposed in postcolonial literature which is further supported by
deconstructionist as well as postmodern concepts. Defying the power fed on
western value system the marginalized groups today are determined to assert
their own respective cultural identities and they want their history to be
written by themselves and not by mainstream historians who have always ignored
them.
While discussing marginality under the
study of postcolonialism, the subaltern discussion also naturally comes up.
‘Subaltern’, an army officer below the rank of captain in military term, has
now acquired more than one meaning having been used in different disciplines
like sociology, politics, literature etc. However, Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak
confines it to a special meaning. According to her Subaltern is not ‘just a
classy word for oppressed…In postcolonial terms, everything that has limited or
no access to the cultural imperialism is subaltern…The working class is
oppressed. It’s not subaltern’.
With the question “Can Subaltern speak?”
Spivak raised a discussion on subaltern’s being able or unable to speak and
emphatically announced that subaltern cannot speak. Yet Ranajit Guha, Dipesh
Chakraborty et al of Subaltern Studies Group, bringing all sorts of
marginalized into the term subaltern, said that subaltern can speak for
themselves.
Subject of subalternity demands a
separate essay. Here we have only a passing reference of it.
VII
Placing all the formerly colonized and
other poor nations under the single umbrella of the ‘Third World’ the former
colonizer and the rich countries gave themselves a collective as well as superlative
name such as the First World and they, executing in a hegemonic manner their
economic, political and military power, started the shadow play of
neo-colonialism over the Third World countries soon after the latter, one after
another, attained the independence. Today this shadow seems to have grown even
darker and more expanding. Such exploited nations always find themselves on the
margin of global arena. Various forms of neo-colonialism such as establishing
dominance and virtually imposing decisions over the weaker nations by a
powerful nation or a group of nations are often witnessed on the global
scenario. The First World or the developed nations now incarnated as
multinational corporate, rest taut on the head of the Third World countries
with the heavy load of neo-colonialism.
A nation or a group of nations that has
posed itself as a centre of power, at times, makes some policies in favour of
its own interpretations relating not only to the political and economical
matters but even to the scientific theories, research and inventions and carries
out all sorts of campaigns for the global acceptance of its desired interpretations.
The First World, while looking down on the heterogeneity of the Third World,
campaigns for the uniformity or homogeneity for its own purpose. Even a right
statement made by a nation standing on the margin becomes a cry in wilderness. Because
of the fact that many nations in Africa and Asia find the United Nations
Organisation usually influenced by the western nations, regional associations
like Arab League, Pan-Africanism, SAARC, ASEAN have come up to protect their
respective regional interests. To put up resistance to the European-American
control over oil, the eleven oil-producing nations having come together formed
OPEC. Despite the concerted efforts of such organizations to check the
overriding monopoly of developed nations and help decentralize and deconstruct
the power centralized by the latter, the polluting smoke has not stopped
bellowing through the chimneys of neo-colonialism (neo-imperialism). And
flushed out of their safe dwelling by this smoke, many have been forced to
languish on the fringe of marginality.
VIII
Now, a few words on environmental
marginalization. In the name of development, set-up of huge projects have, many
a time, become the causes of displacement of countless of villages and
villagers. Many living traditions and cultures perfectly co-existing with the
Nature were, and are being, forced to disappear. Civilized and most intelligent
being called man, driven by his insatiable selfishness, has been heartlessly
looting the nature. As a consequence of the widespread occidental belief that
everything and all the lesser beings on earth and the Earth itself are for the
use and utility of man, a strong possibility of an environmental apocalypse has
grown even dangerously stronger. It is rather the traditions and cultures of
those animist tribal living as one with the nature that teach us to feel what
nature really is. Beyond the story of marginalization of man by man, the
punishment for the crime committed by man towards plant-life, animals and birds
and insects may, at some point of time, be pronounced by the nature herself.
IX
Occurrence of conflict between centre
and periphery in human society is not unusual. But in recent time the study of
this conflict from the perspective of marginality has developed with the
postmodern concept. It may also be said that the perspective of study has
shifted from centre toward periphery. Postmodern interpretation has rather
changed the meaning of the word ‘centre’. Today it has lost its traditional
meaning that projected ‘centre’ as protector and guardian, all-knowing Guru and
source of numerous things. ‘Centre’ is now interpreted in negative words such
as oppressor, non-inclusive, hegemonic, unprogressive, anti-liberal, cause of hindrance
etc. And those forced to be on the periphery have been openly throwing
challenge against such negative forces. Those conscious and aware of their
being unjustly marginalized are speaking aloud against every type of centralism.
Centralization of anything gives rise to
the binary opposition – privileged / deprived; proud / humiliated; male /
female; civilized / savage; occidental / oriental etc. The more the former
moves ahead, the more the latter is pushed behind to the edge. But today is the
time when the sign of slash between the binary opposition is breaking and
falling. All-inclusiveness is trampling the dividing line. No one wants to be
confined in the cell of solitary meaning thrust by close-ended centralism. Just
as the search for last particle has been proved to be ever illusive in a
particle collider lab, so is the last meaning in a text, and resultantly only
the meanings of a meaning are discovered.
And from here emerges the note of interrogation that stands boldly in
front of the close-ended centralist interpretation.
There was a time when religious
scriptures used to be interpreted by some authoritative institutions. Any
attempt to liberal interpretation of the scriptures was to invite the wrath of
religious authority. Such liberal minds were denounced and made subject to
punishment that could be stretched to any extent. In some religious
organizations there is still such extreme type of centralism.
Today’s readers and audience do not like
to remain stuck to an interpretation that claims to be final. They have rather
conscious courage to put forth their own viewpoints and arguments. In earlier
times liberal and individual views and opinions used to be brushed aside, even
punished, by the orthodox centralist. But time has changed and the static
distance between the centre and margin seems to be freely moving to and fro and
this movement has helped bridging the wide gap.
Now the footfalls of this movement are
to be listened to and looked at in the words of creativity and in the
expressions of arts.
E-mail: manprasads@gmail.com
Bijanbari, Darjeeling – 734201.
Ph. 09832025465 / 09046739696
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