M.A. Sem - 3 Subaltern and Marxist theory in Curse of Karna

1. Maharajakrishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagaruniversity
departmentof english
karna
Subaltern and Marxist theory
in Curse of Karna
Presented by :
Chandani Pandya
pandyachandani11@gmail.com
Sem :- 3 (Batch : 2020-22)
Roll no. :- 05
Paper :- 201 : Indian English Literature (pre-
Independence

2.  Table Of Contents
 Post Colonialism
 What is Subaltern Theory
 Karna as Subaltern Character on the play “The Curse of
Karna”
 Themes of the play
 Marxist Theory of Class Conflict
 Basic Castes in India
 Dominance of power
 Conclusion

3.  Post Colonialism
“Post Colonialism is the study of the after effects of
Colonialism and Imperialism.”
The major conflict is about whether the nation’s have
actually come out of the colonial influence or not.

4.  What is subaltern theory ?
In Marxist theory the civil sense of
the term “Subaltern” was first used
by the Italian author Antonio
Gramsci.
“Subaltern means Someone with a
low ranking in a social, political and
other hierarchy or it can also mean
someone who has been
Marginalized.”

5.  Karna as Subaltern in the curse
 Originally he was known as a “Sutaputra”
major character in the Hindu Epic.
 Like Ekalavya, Dronacharya denied to
taught him
 Parshurama taught him but when he comes
to know that he is not Brahmin
 At that time Parshurama curse to forgot
everything because he was Kshatriya

6.  Marxist theory of class conflict
Indian concept of class
• General Category
• Scheduled Class
• Scheduled Tribe
• OBC
Rulling Class
Educated workers
Working Class

7.  Basic castes in india
Brahmins
-Priests
-Academic
Kshatriya
-Workers
-Rulers
Vaishya
-Business Communities
Kshudra
-servant
-Subordinate to Vaishya,
Kshatriya and Brahmins
Dalit
- The “Uncast”, “Untouchables”
- Lower order workers, Subordinate to all

8.  Dominance of power
Karna is a Soodh Boy
A weak person from lower Caste
Another Example :- Ekalavya – a Savior of Animals of
Jungle

9.  Conclusion
 In the play these are many dialogues which are reflection of
subaltern theory and some acts also represent Marxist class conflict
theory.
Thank you…

10.  References
 Indiani, N. M., & Suda, I. K. (2018). Interpret Ogoh-ogoh towards Hindu
Contemporary Society. International Research Journal of Management,
IT and Social Sciences (IRJMIS), 5(1), 65-71.
 Jain, P. (2017). Cashless System of Colleges in India. International Journal
of Social Sciences and Humanities (IJSSH), 1(3), 1-7.
 Lal, K. (2017). Role of Pradhan Manthri Jan Dhan Yojana towards
financial inclusion. International Journal of Retailing and Rural Business
Perspectives, 6(1), 2579-2584.
 Mishra, S. S. (2015). Women Identity and Self-Assertion: A Study of Two
Contemporary Retellings of Mahabharata(Doctoral dissertation).
 Vinayak Chaturvedi (ed.), Mapping Subaltern Studies and the
Postcolonial (London and New York, Verso, 2000).
 Vinay Lal, ‘Walking with the Subalterns, Riding with the Academy : The
Curious Ascendancy of Indian History’, Studies in History, 17, 1 (2001).