University of Mumbai Mahatma Jyotiroa Phule and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Chair ‘1st Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Oration Destitute Literature by Dr. Aniket Jaaware Professor —to repeat the phrase from Derrida, ethics is “1an experience of impossibility, Such literature makes us examine ‘our own positon and choices that we might want to make for characters in such literature. Equally importantly, as 1 have ‘emphasized already, such literature renders our usual and comfortable moral sense inoperable. tis notin itself politica, but it ean reveal to vs situations in which we clearly ee the necessity ‘of ethics interrupting our polities. ‘While it is trae that once we engage ourselves in the task of examination and eriticism, politics are put ase for a moment, they become atleast one sep distant from’ ourselves. I hink that sistance if preferable to an unexamined moral position and ambition masquerading. as pois. I is important to interrupt such self-dependent and self-absorbed politics with » discussion fof ethics. Perhaps if we do this, we might be able to imagine politics that function in the name of anyone and everyone, rather than polities that function in the name of ourselves. I seem 10 remember that Marx ‘distinguishes between clashing interest- ‘soups and clas-sinigele. We need a parallel distinction between clashing interest-groups and what we have been calling the ant- caste strggle. We also urgently need a systematic discussion of cast-consciousness, which must be distinguished fom the affect of belonging to a caste, oF the accidental fact of being bom and raised ina certain family with scerttn easte, Let me summarize what 1 take 10 be necessary and a therefore interesting. 1 have argued that it now time that we practiced our own politics in the name of anyone who has ‘suffered social injustice, and stopped practicing politics in our ‘own name, or our own suffering. [have argued that one's own ‘experience is nota good point to start our polities. Ihave argued that dalit fiction—excmpliied today by Bagul's writings is a “good point to begin fo understand the complex relationships ‘between ethics, polities, truth and literature in our society | have | suggested that such literature destitutionalizes us, opening up ‘possibilities that autobiographical writing or lyric writing docs fot. By their very nature autobiography and lyric are literary © forms thet are centred on the speaking self and can only articulate ‘non-generalizable individual experience. 1 have also. argued “against politics that ere based on identities of our own making of ‘someone else's making. 1 have also suggested that the kind of destitution that we find in dalit fiction is a deeply leaming ‘experience. | think we all need to understand the positive aspects | of processes of destitutionalization. They enable us to see beyond instiutions, and the politics of mere upward mobility through ‘which we atempt io institutionalize ourselves. It seems to me thet it is in this deste place that a e-sncoding of value might be possible.