Rosonrch Councl ISSN 0972-7922

C o t t o n Collogo Vols. 10 & 11

Research J o u n a l
of Contemporary Concerns
(A), 2016,PP.28-32

Dawn
Reading of Otherness in
Voices from the
MMargin : A

Baruah Bora (Asstt. Pro)

Merry
Dectimali Barua
Nath (Asso. Prof)
Guwahati
Cotton College.
Dept. of English.

aimed at
through strategies that
socio-cultural locale spatiality engendered bestow a sense of
Situated in the pre-independent of construction to
reverberates with masking the politics
the narrative
universe of Dawn socio-cultural worldview
ofAssam, subaltern existence experienced
in legitimacy to the
prevailing
as the other.
voices that constitute intends to preserve the
disempowered
narrative engages which
lived lives. The makes an effort to
reveal the slow
diverse stratum of
the self, spatial In her narrative Patangia
with ideas regarding other towards the center in terms
predominantly movement of the
the society paced
within relationships and reflected in the
location ofindividuals which may be s e e n
identities and subjectivities, of empowerment
in the general context, her protagonist is projected.
m a n n e r in which Bina,
issues that reflect on
subaltem voices and marginality
-

in the narrative world of Dawn,

socio-cultural realities of
lived life in its It may be noted that
the general constructions of otherness may
be traced
the novel
multifarious aspects. Any effort to comprehend heterogeneous
relations that reflect the
lens would arrive at a recognition within hierarchical power
through a postcolonial and collective realities of the society in
centre invested with power individual as well as
of the existence of a Assam,
an equally disempowered
margin or general.The historical milieu of pre independent
authority that defines and cultural context
which notions of otherness
is articulated. and the prevalent social, political
periphery within which the novelist makes
An understanding of centre/margin
binary in relation to provides the backdrop against
ideological constructions of
notions of individual identity, an effort to read into the
spatial, cultural or that resonate in all the transactions of
necessitates an a w a r e n e s s otherness that seemed to
subjectivity or selfhood
of power which appears the lived lives of the people
both at private and public
takes cogmizance of the exercise
universe of Dawn, otherness
responsible in the
constructions of multilayered spheres. Within the narrative
at several levels within
the
within a given
-

subalternities in the lived lives of people as a facet of identity operates

all her other works natives including people

socio-cultural context. As with almost relationship shared between the
tea gardens and
of fiction, Arupa Kalita Patangia has in
this novel too like Monglu who were employed in the
caste Brahmins
and
attempted to question the established assumptions the Sahib, within the apparently upper
at
the relationship
regarding the predominant conformist worldview and the non-Brahmins, within man-woman

between conformists
corresponding ideological notions that engender 'other
the individual as well as social sphere,
at every level of existence. The socio-cultural politics that and non-conformists in terms of the socio-political scenario
underlie everyday practices appear responsible in and within individual's subjective reality at a microcosmic
the subject or
and reiterating otherness
reaffirming the of
through strategic allocation of space and exercise of power.
level as reflected primarily through the
character
Binapani among others. This engendering of othernes>
The proposed paper shall make an attempt to read into the may be considered significantly responsible in giving rise
othernes ex' while locating the operation of power and 1act
ense of identity that is made precarious by the
28 Research Journal of Contemporary Concerns Vols. 10 & 11 (A). 2016
 Voices from the
Margin: A Reading of
hat disparate drives, both conscious and
Otherness in Dawn
unconscious, are resisting the established order.
constantly competing with one another within its The reader is made aware
The identity of a whole culture is
territory. of Binapani's non-conformist stance at the very opening
comparably unstable ofthe novel where in one instance she stands fimly against
due to ongoing tensions and conflicts within its fabric. No the physical atrocities inflicted upon Monglu, a
culture, however totalitarían its political regime may be,
labourer
from tea tribe by the Sahib; she throws a stone unable to
is ever unified...societies create distinctions between
those bear the violent behaviour of the white man
parts of themselves which they cherish and wish to retain against the
unarmed poor Monglu for a trivial matter while the
as theirs, and those which they abhor and aim at "people
expelling. standing around were stunned into silence at the audacity
The excluded parts go to constitute the Other... i]ndeed of the eight year old girl"(6). At another instance she
what makes the Other disturbing is its indeterminateness:
questions the customary practice of touching the feet of
it appears not to belong to any
of the categories legitimized her grandfather Nanda Baruah who was an influential
by aculture...(Cavallaro, 129) person of the society and enjoyed absolute power within
In the light of the quoted lines Dawn may be read as his family-"[ajll his life he was used to eyes being lowered
a novel that articulates the insecurity and vulnerability of in fear and reverence"; Binapani's questioning of this
the colonizer when situated against the colonised, the fear tradition puts the old man in an uneasy situation - "[h]e

and sense of disintegration

created in a society going found it dificult to digest the newsituation"(11,emphasis
through a moment of transition being subjected to various added). It is this new situation characteristic ofthe winds
social, cultural and political forces that questioned of change ushered in by the new waves of social, cultural
established codes of conformity. The novelist makes an and political ideology of the contemporary age are
effort to arrive at an understanding of the hegemonic socio- juxtaposed against traditional conformity, which echoes
cultural tendencies within a society distraught with the throughout the narrative. The narration reveals several
exercise of colonial rule and the norms ofpatriarchy which facets of the changing times simultaneously, while
were both subjected to the winds of change ushered in by representing the family and human relationships alongside
the progressive ideals of the times. Thus, the social and social and cultural and more importantly, the political
cultural impositions which conform to the established complexities that permeated the lived lives of the people.

practices of everyday life tend to create homogeneous The predominant patriarchal milieu captures the
entities held legitimate within the given society and culture imagination of the reader at the opening of the narration
and attempts to thwart and subvert these gives rise to what where one comes across overpowering characters such as
one may consider as the other, an identity that is founded Nanda Barua who seemed a caring man but "was used to
having his commands followed. Different people at
along the lines of exclusion very often.
as far its
different levels wife, sons, daughters-in-law,
Dawn may be read as a bildungsroman grandchildren, employees, servants, found it natural carry
Structure is concerned. The narrative presents Binapani
out his orders"(12). Into this world of patriarchal
within a family
atne protagonist, a little girl growing the traditional subjection, Bina was introduced as a little girl full of
which, in the general sense, subscribes to
independent questions which at times created unease for the members
Onrormist value system that prevailed in pre of of the family, especially Nanda Barua. Patangia's narrative
ASSamese society. The turbulent political atmosphere fascinates one through its seamless blending of the
reflected in
C
days with accompanying reformist zeal traditional and the contemporary, the complexitiesthat had
or
S0Clal and cultural practices, as well as in the realm
come upon an otherwise complacent and placid society,
and
aon created a locale fraught with doubt. despair the reformist agenda and the strong voices of
the young
days to come. For
Prehension regarding the conventionality in opposition to it. The transitional socio-
the disparate
pan rather difficult to assimilate
it was cultural spectrum that the novel reveals provides a critical
within which
the conventional value system
Deside she appears insight into the prevalent norms of the society which is
und herself. Unlike her counterparts, to put to question primarily through Binapani and other
irom the intended defy the
who
very beginn as one

questioning and
characters such as Karuna Barua and Indra Gossain also
hegemonic OSitions upon her
while

10 & 11 2016 29
Contemporary Concerns vols. (A),
Research Journal of
 M R ah Bra & eeimali Barua Nuth
hat of the public donain of community and
Darhiva ossain among a tew others,
as well
socie,
of the domestic. The oli.erly
Ann as

fo be a lndy of fhe private domain

Nanda Rarua's wie
Jashoda too, apCaTs wome
nda, al cetam momentsowever, she
remains in the novel appear Bina's aunts, her mother,
NTINC
ther are all women her
onerall pane
without the
armour of fomal education grand1not constructe by patriarch
he n the shadew ofher ather famous
and conditioning that is intended in producing docile bod.
and n tatnl o
Jashoda's enistence was like within thc socio-cultural realities of lived lives,
N n crful husband.

other coniemporary
womcn wlho were Bina's grundmother says "Society has made certain rul
nt
mlttndrs
desned tome in a state of disempowerment and If you go by them, you are considered good; if you don'
wmelled t dclierate "l¢]an we women do things the you're bad"(206). Adrienne Rich also comments
Jashoda's contemplation may be patriarchal conditioning as she opines that:
a e want"70)
atmbuted the dea w that "the socialization of every girl Our upbringing has so often told us
as women
thar
ward heicrose\ual romance and childbearing is still taking responsibility towards yourselves] should come

a h a h ' ihe mast

intense socialization practiced by society second to [y]our relationships and responsibilities to other
as
ahole" (Rich. 264). Forever anxiousand apprehensive people. We have been offered the ethical model of the
doing, Bina's Jashoda feels selfdenying wife and mother, ...the intelligent woman who
danng grand-daughter
hr
Buna's unonnentional behaviour "bodes ill for her(29) denies her intelligence in order to seem more "feminine"
that "A girl shouldn't who sits in passive silence when she
hich prookes her to advise Bina or even
disagrees
s o bold
danger at every
and that *women face inwardly with everything that is being said around her.
step"301. Resistant to the patriarchal conditioning (232)
nentionally approved in the process of socialisation, Contextualising the narrative universe of Dawn in
education in the
Bina attains strength through her terms of Rich's observation, it would become apparent
missionar schoolevery now -
and then Bina transcends how patriarchal hegemony has been internalised by
the margin in some way or the other although characters within the narrative. Such intermalisation of
unconsciously perhaps. Symbolic of the need for the girl
patriarchal injunctions may be seen reflected in Sita's
child's education, Patangia portrays Bina as a young girl
anxious contemplation:
interested in education, her attempt at 'horse riding', Sita could feel apprehension gripping her. She could
climbing trees', inquisitiveness are all perhaps indicative never control her daughter...[s]he laughed so treely. It
of the changes that the contemporary society was
didn't become a girl.Sita looked at her daughter, shocked.
anticipating in the midst of the revolutionary atmosphere
How could she address the driver, a stranger, like this
of freedom struggle. Unlike her "obedient' cousins Shanti
without any inhibition? (176)
and Urmila, Bina did not approve of the age-old
conventions chalked out for a woman; on the contrary she Therefore, Bina who reveals an intense disavowal of
resiss such hegemonic impositions when she revolts "No, such hegemony and is resistant to almost all values held
no. I'll be like Sister Melina. I'll teach too. Otherwise I' appropriate by patriarchy may be seen as one who nurtures

be like Alice baideu who sits in in the van and accompanies within her a selfthat is beyond the bondage of hegemon
or
the children to
school"(45) Bina's existential condition is Silence, an integral aspect of patriarchal imagination
a reflection of the experience of subalternity within her the feminine therefore does not form a part ot Bnd
lived space, one that
expresses how "[t]he 'subalterm mtrirste natureand'she ares to question every mstitut
lways stands in an reaches at du
ambiguous relation to power
ubor dinate lo it but never
every relationship although she rarely
fully However, her education and sense
adopting the dominant consenting
to its rule, never acceptable answer.
ting
point of view or
vocabulary as Treedom and not prevent her trom
dignity could
pres ve of its own
identity"(Leitch
et al,
ersel
married to Mr Jayanta Chaliha, a man much older to net
It is Bina who is posited against several female 2194) but rich and affluent enough to make people envio
hat acters s she
in the narrative
tthe author universe of Dawn through which Bina's marriage to Mr Chaliha changes her lite
attempts Pualsalion ofspatiality-cntered the web of domesticity by donning the roles of
'
a
reconceptualisation of spatiality Chalihas

wife and mother. It is noteworthy that

Research Journal of
Contemporary Concerns Vols. 10 & 11 (A), 2016
 loicesfrom the Murgin: A Reud1ng of Otherness in Dawn

haracter
omineering char. and overpowering presence in the Bina about the fear of society, Tagar retorts:
d o m .

not deter Bina' resolve of doing things on equipped to resist

not
house
could
Just because I was physically
own.
As the lady of the house she could declare "In a ddrunk gunda, do you think I'l choose to die?..[wjhy
her
ho I won't let anybody suffer"(283). Eventually should I be soiled? Did I jump into the muck mysci1?
my
into maturity to take decisions and shoulder was pushed into it. Why should I be blamed? ... They've
Bina grows her mental balance.
the
ccompanying responsibilities even in the absence of done it tomy mother...My mother lost
lady of the house "now she had died in that
her husband.elbow, rulingtaller than Who was affected? No one. Even if she
As the
her
her husband. She bothered. IfI hang
good length fuelwood shed nobody would have
as a

aave birth to three sons. She took half the load off the
myself now would these people care? (322)
ga
the responsibility of looking which provides heer
It is the empowered self of Tagar
she took over
cook's work,
to not go for
an
bedridden mother-in-law.. s/he had even With the courage and determination
after her one may assumee
forgotten
vhen she had shifte. to the room next to her abortion. Seen from such perspective,
visualised
mOther-in-law 's to look afier her"(284, emphasis added).
woman
that in Tagar the dream of empowered
web of domesticity" Bina carved out realised as she no longer
Within the "eternal by the narrator has been fully
decision with
her own space
in such a manner that "there was no space" remains the peripheral subaltern; by taking
Bina's "shifting' from her husband's had reclaimed her body
for her husband; infact regard to her o w n body, Tagar
mother-in-law's room may be read as symbolic dominant patriarchal hegemony
from subjectivity under
room to her
role playing herself thereby exercising
to challenge the conventional and carved out a space for
ofBina's attempt Lakshman Rekha' imposed upon Thus empowered, Tagar inspires
Bina
Bina transcends the individual power.
to which
towards a m o r e responsible to act radically owing
in the close of the narrative
her thus making her progress lost self from the
activities which she felt w a s essential decides to reclaim her long
life by engaging in
Bina finally
by her bliss as she says:
humanitarian grounds and not just
chalked out web of apparent domestic
on
perfomed by her. have enough ofa
thinking about myself. I
seen
husband meant to be unquestioningly I am

becomes m o r e an individual and

life. They say a woman's place is always under
In this act of hers, she woman's
The intention of the I've seen your mother
somebody, father, husband,
son.
her wifely role becomes secondary. m e and what
w o m a n in her
narration could be under the tyranny of her father.
You've s e e n
author to create a strong
Bina's life takes shapes
within husband's control. I s a w Aita
seen m a n n e r in which
in the it m e a n s to be under the
Ai...AlI
the contemporary society. shadow of her sons. I'm fed up
the web of conventionalities of living under the had
the conformist
world
these years I've enjoyed
other peoples earning. I've
Her resistance from the outset against
w o r n the best
clothes. Now let m e
who believes in taking every material need,
values portrays her as an individual
trait integral to the empowered. bread and s e e how it feels. (327)
responsibility of herself- a try to e a r n my
is marked with can visualise Bina's empowerment
Bina's journey towards empowerment In this, one
bread which
resistance at various levels since
her childhood. Growing complete she speaks of earning her own
as
the It
comprehend that s e n s e of economic empowerment.
with her grandparents, she could provides one with a
circumscribed, that c o m e s through
Worldview presented to her was gender is only through such empowerment
that a w o m a n might be able to
ractice
education and other skills
custonary
which made her uestion every other
in general.
achieve a sense of fulfilment
and assert her sense of identity
imposed upon her and
women
or
belief system that is founded on inequitable
Ruma baideu's and selfhood within a society
However, it only through Tagar,
was
with distribution of power that
female allocation of space and
meets

gnter that the notion of empowered and is with a job; legitimises patriarchal hegemony. Since "dominant
success. She has been educated
e she can decide
and a c t on
ideologies hinge on of inclusion and exclusion
principles
S1gnificant is the fact that abused by of people must be
which dictate that certain categories
OWn behalf. So when she is physically The guilt fate met by w o m e n in patriarchy
Chaliha, she did not suffer in silence. treated as outsiders...[t]he
other
victims of physical the model upon which countless
SCOusness which torments the [and] can be taken as
constructed" (Cavallaro, 115)
On being asked by forms of oppression are
Is
significantly absent in Tagar. 31
Concerns Vols. 10 &
11 (A), 2016
Research Journal
of Contemporary
 Bora & Deetimali Barua Nath
Merry Baruah

resistance to the dominant Kalita, Arupa Patangia. Dawn. trans. Ra

and Bina's New Zubaan, 2004.
Therefore, Tagar considereda New Delhi: Zubaan, 2004.
inclusion and exclusion may be
ideology of exercise of Leitch, et al., eds. The Norton
decisive
reflectionpowers
of theirthey
selves. In their
have been empowered to live their
empowered and Criticism. New York & London:Anthology of
Norton,ofhe
2001. Prin
Theor
silence and
overcoming the Rich, Adrienne. On Lies, Secrets and
lives on their own terms

lives. Selected Prose. New York & London: Norton, 1979Silenc

passivity of marginalised
Works cited:
Cultural Theory:
Critical and
Cavallaro, Dani.
New Brunswick, NJ:
Thematic Variations. London and

Athlone, 2003. Print.