This presentation is about contemptatory Literature in which i have presented A study of subaltern in Ministry of Utmost Happiness

1. S.B.Gardi Department of English
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar university
A study of Subaltern
In Ministry of Utmost
Happiness

2. Name: Hirva pandya
Faculty:M.A. Sem-4
Roll no: 10
Enrollment no:4069206420210022
Sub: Contemporary Literature
Paper no:207
Paper code:22414
Email :pandyahirva815@gmail.com
Name of department: S.B.Gardi Department of English

3. Points to ponder
.
> <
<
<
<
• About Author
• About Novel
• About term subaltern
• Critics views on subaltern Theory
• Subaltern Theory in Ministry of Utmost Happiness
• Conclusion
• Work cited

4. “The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you are alive, and die
only when you are dead”
• Arundhati Roy is an Indian author, political activist, and
outspoken critic of various issues such as environmental
degradation, social inequality, and political corruption.
• She was born on November 24, 1961, in Shillong,
Meghalaya, India.
• Roy is best known for her novel "The God of Small Things,"
which was published in 1997 and won the Booker Prize,
one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world.
The novel deals with themes of love, family, caste, and
politics in India.
About Author

5. About The Novel
The novel tells the story of several characters, whose lives
intersect in various ways, as they navigate through the
complex social and political landscape of contemporary
India. The central character is a transgender woman named
Anjum, who runs a guest house in Delhi for other
transgender individuals. Through Anjum's experiences.
The story also follows the lives of other characters, including
a Kashmiri freedom fighter named Musa, an activist named
Tilo, and a young man named Saddam Hussain. Each of
these characters has their own unique story and perspective,
but they are all connected by their shared experiences of
oppression and resistance.

6. About subaltern Term:
A term conceived by the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, who because he
was in prison and his writings subject to censorship used it as a codeword
for any class of people (but especially peasants and workers) subject to the
hegemony of another more powerful class. The term has been adopted by a
group of Postcolonial Studies scholars, thus forming a sub-discipline within
the field known as Subaltern Studies. The group was founded by South
East Asian historian, Ranajit Guha and over time it has included such
scholars as Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, Partha Chatterjee, and Dipesh
Chakrabarty. Its aim, following Gramsci's precepts, is to examine the
formation of subaltern classes in a variety of settings in South East Asia, but
principally India and its near neighbours, with the aim of providing a kind of
counter-history, to address the imbalances of ‘official’ histories, which tend
to focus exclusively on the affairs of the state and the ruling class.

7. Gramsci on subaltern Theory
As it is reviewed by El Habib Louai in his research article that
Gramsci became interested in the study of the subaltern classes of consciousness and
culture as one possible way to make their voice heard instead of relying on the
historical narrative of the state which is by the end , history of the ruling and dominant
classes.
“The subaltern classes by definition, are not unified and cannot unite
until they are able to become a "State”: their history, therefore, is
intertwined with that of civil society, and thereby with the history of
States and groups of States (Gramsci, 1971).”
Gramsci argued that the subaltern classes have the same complex history as that of the
hegemonic classes, although the latter constitutes the most officially
accepted. The subaltern groups‟ history in Gramsci‟s opinion has no evident unity and it
seems to be in its very episodic totality because of their submission to the
authority of the ruling groups even when they break with the established system

8. Spivak on subaltern Theory
As it is reviewed by Anand Maurya According to Spivak, the subaltern cannot speak.
She opines that the subaltern does not have a voice. Spivak, in her
essay ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ writes:
The Subaltern cannot speak. There is no virtue in global laundry
lists with women a pious. Representation has not withered away.
The female intellectual has a circumscribe task that she must not
disown with a flourish”(Spivak 1988, 308).
According to Spivak, subaltern means:
It refers to those who don’t give orders; they only receive orders. That comes
from Antonio Gramsci, who made the word current.
Spivak, in her essay, illustrates that the subaltern as a female can not be heard or
read. Still, in patriarchy and imperialism, subject to constitution and object formation,
the woman's figure disappears, not into a pristine nothingness, but into a violent
shuttling which is the displaced figuration of the ‘tired avoid woman’ got between
tradition and modernisation.

9. Subaltern Theory in Novel
Adumbration of Anjum (A Hijra) as a
Representative of Subaltern
As it is reviewed by nusrat jahan
The central character of the novel is a Hijra and in terms of rights they are the most
marginalized people in a society particularly in South Asian context.
The transgender people as subaltern, as Spivak claims have no history but they are always
there in the society. In Khawabgah every Hijra starts to feel identity crisis to an extent as well
as struggles for their place in history.
As Sehgal (2017, 37) argued The Ministry of Utmost Happiness offers only a “tiny”
Portrayal of transgender people’s lives, struggles and triumphs. In “Arundhati Roy’s
Fascinating Mess”,

10. Representation of the “Subaltern” in Terms
of Caste:
This can be seen in the character of Saddam Hussain who was Dalit by caste but because of subalternity
of caste he change his name Dayachand .
“critics like Lahiri (2017) criticized “the dialogue between Anjum and Saddam over his
past” and claimed “it as a ruse to explain caste rituals in detail that overload the
immediate narrative flow” as well as “inelegant information nuggets.” Though
unartistic description, this very detail can well picture the enduring form of social norm
of caste system
‘they accuse you of eating beef and then take
over your house and your land and send you to a refugee camp. It’s all about property,
not cows
From this statement, it is clear that the benefit of this kind of oppersive
incident directly goes to patent holding corporates placing subalterns at the risk of being
immigrant or refugee.

11. Interpretation of Women as “Subaltern”:
The narratives of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness evolve around a
female character, Tilo, a half Dalit wondering women.
, Tilo can be identified as an obvious subaltern figure. The family
background of tilo is important in this regard as Tilo’s mother had an affair
with “the
man, who belonged to an ‘untouchable caste’; had been dispensed with in
ways high-
caste families in India – in this case Syrian Christians from Kerala” and
consequently
“Her family disowned her .

12. Conclusion
To sum up it can be observed that the concept of the subaltern has been studied
extensively by scholars such as Gramsci and Spivak. Arundhati Roy's novel, "The
Ministry of Utmost Happiness," has been analyzed as an example of the
representation of the subaltern in postcolonial literature. The novel has received
mixed reviews, with some criticizing its structure and others praising its portrayal
of marginalized characters. Overall, the study of the subaltern is important for
understanding the experiences of oppressed and marginalized groups and their
representation in literature and society.

13. Work cited
Jahan, Articglish-language-and-literature-studies-ejells/vol-9-issue-2-2021-2/the-new-
subaltern-in-arundhati-roys-the-ministry-of-utmost-happiness-a-postcolonial-study/.
Louai. (n.d.). “Retracing the concept of the subaltern from Gramsci to Spivak ... Retrieved
March 7, 2023, from https://academicjournals.org/article/article1381909550_Louai.pdf
Maurya, A. (2022, June 30). Spivak: Making of the subaltern. TPP. Retrieved March 7,
2023, from https://www.thephilosophyproject.in/post/spivak-making-of-the-subaltern
OLahiri. (n.d.). 'The Ministry of Utmost Happiness' is timely, but not deserving of the
booker. The Wire. Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://thewire.in/books/ministry-utmost-
happiness-arundhati-roy
Subaltern.” Oxford Reference,
https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100539334;jsessio
nid=9B2B7987F29FA6F6DAFCCF84ABEBB2AB.

14. Tikkanen, Amy. "Arundhati Roy". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Jan. 2023,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arundhati-Roy. Accessed 7 March 2023.
byparulsehgal, Posted. “Arundhati Roy's Fascinating Mess.” Parul Sehgal, 10 July 2021,
https://parulsehgal.com/2017/07/01/arundhati-roys-fascinating-mess/.
“The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.” Penguin Random House India, 8 Feb. 2022,
https://penguin.co.in/book/the-ministry-of-utmost-happiness/.

15. Thank you!