Politics of Orphanhood: Discourse, Power, and Resistance in Sharankumar Limbale’s The Outcaste (Akkarmashi)

Abstract

Sharankumar Limbale’s The Outcaste (Akkarmashi) is an autobiographical work which delineates Limbale’s harrowing life in an obnoxious social order. Several factors are liable for his awful condition, among them his orphanhood has a remarkable role in intensifying disconsolate events in his life. This paper probes the operation of power relations, discourse, and resistance in Limbale’s The Outcaste, in order to elucidate exclusionary mechanics of orphanhood. Limbale, the narrator of The Outcaste, was born out of wedlock, after his birth his father has disowned him, and these have resulted in his doleful orphanhood. Limbale as an orphan has been socially excluded and this paper endeavours to explain the ignoble status of Limbale by utilizing Foucault’s intricate scheme on power, discourse, and knowledge. According to Foucault, though the power relation subjugates individuals, the power relation can also enable the resistance. Limbale’s The Outcaste can be considered as a site of resistance against social exclusion and stigmatization of orphans, moreover, the resistance has materialized by the power relation which has caused the uncritical marginalization of orphans. By using Foucault’s scheme on discourse, power and knowledge, this paper attempts to destabilize prevalent conception about orphans.