Subalternity and the Indian Rebellion of 1857: Staging the History of the Marginalized in Utpal Dutt's The Great Rebellion (original) (raw)

The history of Indian nationalism and nation formation, as argued by Ranajit Guha, has been dominated by colonialist and bourgeois-nationalist historiography. While the former credits foreign elites like British rulers and administrators for the achievement of the nation's freedom, the latter eulogizes indigenous elite personalities and institutions. Subaltern Studies emerged as a response to focus on the gaps in elitist historical discourses, to draw attention to the numerous uprisings by millions of people independent of elite leadership. Utpal Dutt's play, The Great Rebellion dramatizes the Indian rebellion of 1857 and throws light on the subalterns, who are exploited by the foreign (British rulers, officials) as well as the native oppressors (princes, merchants, moneylenders). The playwright presents the active participation of subjugated people—weavers, peasants, sepoys, women (including 'fallen' women), and ordinary citizens—in the anti-colonial freedom struggle. The present paper seeks to study the play in the light of the ideas posited by Subaltern Studies.