CAN THE SUBALTERN SING? Towards a Dalit Sonic Liberation Theology for an Anti-Caste Society

This paper utilizes the concept of heterotopia as a methodology to examine the role of Dalit music and alternative spaces to examine the role of Dalit music and alternative spaces in the resistance and empowerment of the Dalit communities. The paper discusses the emergence of young Dalit artists and their utilization of alternative spaces such as social media platforms, theatre, studios, and stage performances to challenge the hegemonic norms and amplify their voices. One such example is the Casteless Collective, a grassroots anti-caste organization, whose provocative song titled, “I am sorry Ayyappa,”[1] created waves on the web world. The song condemned the denial of women’s access to Sabarimala Temple. The song was performed live at a gathering of Pa. Ranjith’s Neelam Cultural Center and published on YouTube on January 1, 2019. Coincidently, a day after the song hit internet, two women Kanaka Durga and Bindu for the first time entered the Sabarimala Temple breaking all barriers and restrictions.[2]

This paper aims to explore the impact of the Casteless Collective’s use of music and alternative spaces as a means of resistance and empowerment. It focuses on the intersection of caste, gender, class, and ecological perspectives in the Dalit musical traditions, and how the use of alternative spaces contributes to challenging the status quo and promoting anti-caste society.

The study will also develop Dalit Sonic liberation theology, which seeks to amplify the voices of the marginalized and oppressed communities, using the Casteless Collective as a source for doing theology. I would like to develop a Dalit sonic liberation theology focusing on the sonic elements, such as the power of sound, rhythm, and music to resist caste, class, gender, and ecological destruction and offer heterotopian pathways for theologizing using rhythm as a theological category.

Methodology

The methodology of the paper involves exploring how Dalit artists have been using alternative spaces that function as heterotopias,[3] (hetero – different, topus – place) which are spaces that are “other” and are “counter-sites” that allow for oppressive norms to be reversed. The paper uses Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia as an open space, a “counter-site” to closed spaces in society. These “counter-sites” exist outside of and in opposition to the norms and expectations of society. Foucault describes heterotopia as spaces that are real and virtual at the same time, reflecting an image that allows an individual or society to see themselves in a place where they are not.

Using the analogy of a mirror, heterotopias are spaces that are real and virtual at the same time, insofar as they reflect an image that allows an individual or society to see themselves in a place where they are not. Heterotopias are ‘absolute real, connected (networked) with all the space that surrounds it and absolutely unreal, since in order to be perceived it has to pass through this virtual point which is over there.”

Heterotopia is a concept that refers to spaces that exist outside of dominant social and cultural norms, challenging established power relations and creating opportunities for alternative forms of expression and resistance. Heterotopias can include cemeteries, museums, theaters, or even social media platforms. Using heterotopia as a methodology, the paper analyzes the alternative spaces used by Dalit artists and explores how they organize their performances to raise anti-caste, gender, class and ecological consciousness.

In the context of this paper, young Dalit artists are using various musical forms such as rap, hip-hop, gaana, and folk music in heterotopian spaces such as street theatre, studios, and social media platforms to speak out their contested realities. In the first part of the paper, I will explore who the Dalits are and how caste system operates in India and how it perpetuates through social and cultural practices, including music. I will examine how music has been used as a form of resistance and empowerment in the midst of hegemonic norms and practices that perpetuate caste-based discrimination and oppression. In the second part of the paper, I will explore some young artists from the Casteless Collective and their songs analyzing how their performances in heterotopian spaces are providing agency and creating psychological spaces in imagining an anti-caste society. By means of performance, as Richard Schechner observes, something is created, born, changed, celebrated, or ended. This paper aims to explore how Dalit artists have used Dalit musical traditions to disrupt, challenge, and subvert traditional forms and oppressive structures in heterotopian spaces using the Dalit feminist lens as a tool for analysis. The research questions of the paper are: How do the Dalit musical traditions and the use of alternative spaces contribute to resistance and empowerment? How can a Dalit sonic liberation theology break the silence of the silenced earth creatures and amplify the voices of the silenced and suppressed people of the earth and earth people. This paper will produce a new pitch or sound that may initially seem dissonant, but ultimately helps us to shift the key in which all theology is played and heard. In the final section of this paper, I would like to develop a Dalit sonic liberation theology focusing on the sonic elements and offer heterotopian pathways for theologizing using rhythm as a theological category.

[1] Casteless Collective, “I am Sorry Ayyappa, Naan Ulla Vanthal Yenappa” YouTube video, 4:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVgBiXjjOqM accessed on January 5, 2023.

[2] TA Ameerudheen, “Thrown out of marital home for entering Sabarimala, woman says she’ll see husband, in-laws in court” https://scroll.in/article/910586/thrown-out-of-marital-home-for-entering-sabarimala-woman-says-shell-see-husband-in-laws-in-court%20accessed%20on%20February%202 accessed on January 5, 2023. Following the entry of the two women into the shrine, Kerala witnessed unprecedented violence for three continuous days. The temple performed purification rituals on January 3, 2019. Kanaka Durga was thrown out of her marital home in Kerala, and was physically abused by her family members. In spite of the humiliation and abuse, Kanaka Durga believes that she has exercised her constitutional right to worship.   

[3] Michel Foucault, “Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopia” Translated by Jay Miskowiec, Diacritics, vol. 16, no.1, 1986, pp. 22-27.