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Original Article | English Language and Literature | Volume 15 Issue 4, April 2026 | Pages: 881 - 884 | India
Visible as Labour, Unheard as Human: Everyday Caste, Voice, and Dignity in Untouchable
Abstract: Untouchable (1935) follows one ordinary day in the life of Bakha, a young sweeper forced to live at the edge of a caste-ordered town. This article argues that the novel is not only a protest against untouchability. It is also a study of how caste works through daily speech, social space, and bodily discipline. Using close reading, the article links Bakha's experience to Michel Foucault?s ideas about discipline and to Subaltern Studies, especially the question of who is allowed to speak and be believed. The article argues that the Subaltern Studies angle is relevant, but only in a careful sense: Anand does not simply free the subaltern voice; he shows how caste makes Bakha and Sohini visible while keeping them socially unheard. The essay also brings the novel into the present by linking it to recent caste politics in India, including caste enumeration in Census 2027 and continuing state concern over sanitation labour. Read in this light, Untouchable remains painfully current.
Keywords: Mulk Raj Anand; Untouchable; caste; Subaltern Studies; voice; sanitation labour; dignity; Census 2027
How to Cite?: Dr. Janet Paul, Dr. Bommana Indu, "Visible as Labour, Unheard as Human: Everyday Caste, Voice, and Dignity in Untouchable", Volume 15 Issue 4, April 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 881-884, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26412123100, DOI: https://dx.dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26412123100