Alaka 1

Alaka Rajeev 1930317

Prof. Dr. Bidyut Bhusan Jena
Indian Literature(s): Themes and concerns - EST 532
10 August 2021

Discuss the problem of "authenticity" with reference to the experiencer recounting

his/her experience and the non-experiencer objectively reflecting upon the experience of
others.

The problem of authenticity is a difficult one to navigate given the pressures of our
external environment that demands hyper-awareness of all the frailties of social realities that
surrounds us which makes us want to prefer subjective interpretations factoring in while
confirming authenticity rather than a detached, objective interpretation by someone who isn’t
well-versed with that experience. As the years have passed, I have witnessed this tendency
intensifying both in myself and others around me. As much as lived experiences are
important, interpretation of such experiences by an outside perceiver should also be given due
attention.
The experiencer recounting his/her experience can be seen as an authentic recollection
on or commentary on what has occurred especially if the experience in itself is connected to a
serious matter, thus requiring self-disclosure from the experiencer’s end. The experiencer has
lived the experience and should be acutely aware of what had occurred, what kind of situation
it was, the contextual nuances, their own background and history - all of which have a part to
play in how they will perceive that experience. As individuals, we also tend to vividly
remember experiences that concern us and therefore are better equipped to recount it than an
external observer who wouldn’t have found it to be relevant or important.
I personally find narration of lived experiences to be authentic because of the element
of self-disclosure that is so central to it which is why Sohaila Abdulali’s book ‘What We Talk
About When We Talk About Rape’ is so powerfully authentic given that Abdulali is the first
Indian rape survivor to share her experience through a book which also contains experiences
of several other survivors. The book seeks to flip the narrative on how rape, consent and life
post-rape needs to be viewed in India. Richard O. Prum, Professor of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology at Yale University’s review on the book shows how the recounting of
the experience by the experiencer themselves can prove to be more meaningful and poignant
- “Abdulali teaches us that surviving sexual violence is essentially a creative act, and in her
 Alaka 2

brave book she shares her, and many other, inspiring stories of surviving, thriving, and
regaining wholeness (Abdulali).”
In the same vein, ‘Objectivity’ can be a difficult thing to achieve because all of us are
inescapably influenced by our socio-cultural environments where we would have been
exposed to norms, beliefs and viewpoints that have become quite central to our thought
process. In such a case, objectively reflecting on someone else’s experience can seem to be
not desirable. But, the separation of the individual from the experience will greatly help in
objectively reflecting about the experience devoid of any particular emotional aspects and it
also will help highlight an alternate perception of the experience. As a person objectively
reflecting on someone else’s experience, you have to make sure to have a very nuanced
understanding of what has occurred, take into account all your biases and be as value neutral
as possible.
This is what Yashpal Singh did in “This Is Not That Dawn”, a novel that is
remembered because of the manner in which it sensitively shone a light on women’s lives
and critiqued men in having affected women’s lives in a negative manner. The book centered
around the brutality of the Partition where many women were raped and abused on both sides
of the border but these experiences were covered up and not given due attention despite its
inherent barbarity. He did rigorous research to be able to talk about the lives and experiences
of women which is evident in his novel . The novel “has the feel of a documentary, of a work
concerned with getting social details right in order to illuminate dark and complicated
subjects such as his portrayal of Tara’s (protagonist) first rapist in a well-rounded, detailed
manner reflecting the rapist’s nature and character in other contexts as well (Mahajan).
Mahajan objectively reflecting on this issue and then later deciding to write such a politically
charged novel that focuses on the issues of rape requires a lot of nuance and understanding
from the author. Although he didn’t experience this himself during the partition, he still was
able to write a novel that is authentic because he presented it with a seething neutrality
supported by his openness to research that helped in presenting an alternate viewpoint that
analyses how men have failed to assist women in the journey to gain freedom.
Both the experiencer recounting their experience and the non-experiencer objectively
reflecting upon the experience of others is important to be depicted in literature. It should be
upon the reader to choose which is it that they find more authentic and therefore want to see
more of. Literature is the medium through which diverse viewpoints can be presented and the
discretion lies upon the reader to choose what they consider to be more relevant and
authentic.
 Alaka 3

Works Cited

Abdulali, Sohaila. “Sohaila Abdulali, Author.” Sohaila Ink - Sohaila Abdulali, 2018,
http://www.sohailaink.com/.

Jain, Devanshi. “8 Books on Rape Culture in India You Need to Read.” The Curious Reader,
10 July 2020, https://www.thecuriousreader.in/bookrack/books-on-rape-culture-in-
india/.

Mahajan, Karan. “India's Forgotten Feminist Epic.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 27
Mar. 2015, http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/indias-forgotten-feminist-
epic.

Walker, James. “Authenticity and Experience: The Problem of Identity Politics in

Literature.” Quillette, Quillette, 21 Sept. 2021,
https://quillette.com/2016/05/04/authenticity-and-experience-the-problem-of-identity-
politics-in-literature/.