Paper Title
THE POLITICS OF VOICE: HOW CONTEMPORARY INDIAN NOVELS CHALLENGE SOCIAL HIERARCHIESAbstract
This study examines the representation of social inequality and resistance in four contemporary Indian novels through the lens of discourse analysis, focusing on how language, narrative strategies, and characterization construct, contest, and negotiate systems of power. Drawing upon theories from critical discourse analysis (CDA) and postcolonial studies, the research explores how caste, class, gender, and religion intersect to shape social hierarchies and collective struggles in modern Indian fiction. The selected novels—spanning authors from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds—reflect India’s multifaceted social realities and reveal how literary discourse functions as both a mirror and critique of society. Through a close reading of textual forms—dialogue, narrative voice, and symbolic representation—the study investigates how marginalized voices articulate resistance against dominant ideologies. It considers how the authors employ linguistic subversion, irony, and counter-narratives to expose structural oppression and challenge hegemonic norms. The novels are analyzed not merely as cultural arti facts but as sites of ideological struggle, where the politics of representation plays a crucial role in shaping readers’ understanding of social justice and transformation. The research situates these novels within the larger framework of contemporary Indian socio-political contexts, including neoliberalism, communal tensions, and the persistence of caste-based discrimination. It highlights how literary discourse enables an alternative mode of resistance—through storytelling, re-appropriation of language, and reimagining of identities. By analyzing patterns of inclusion, exclusion, and silence, the study demonstrates how the texts contribute to the ongoing discourse on equality, dignity, and emancipation in postcolonial India.
KEYWORDS : Discourse analysis social inequality, social hierarchies, contemporary Indian novels
