Well, before going into the
nitty-gritties of it, let me just give the definitions first, for us to connect
better with Poonachi.
As we all know, Defamiliarisation is the artistic
technique of presenting to audiences common things in an unfamiliar or strange
way in order to enhance perception of the familiar.
According to Henderson and Brown, Defamiliarisation is a term used by the
Russian Formalist Viktor Shklovsky to describe the capacity of art to counter
the deadening effect of habit and convention by investing the familiar with
strangeness and thereby deautomatizing perception.
Defamiliarization is not
simply a question of perception; it is the essence of "literariness."
Calling attention to its techniques and conventions ("baring the
device"), literature exposes its autonomy and artificiality by
foregrounding and defamiliarizing its devices.
To illustrate what he means by defamiliarization,
Shklovsky uses examples from Tolstoy, whom he cites as using the technique
throughout his works: "The narrator of 'Kholstomer,' for example, is a horse,
and it is the horse's point of view (rather than a person's) that makes the
content of the story seem unfamiliar" and hence helps in driving home his
points better!
I personally feel, Perumal Murugan has
patronized ‘Defamiliarisation’ as a strategy or a device to bring out the
plight of the harried people, and the various ills of society, like Brecht uses the ‘distancing effect’ in
the realm of his unique theatre!
Murugan’s fiction has a huge cache of
animals of all hues! The ethos of farm life, rearing livestock was part of the
livelihood of small-time farmers, and Perumal Murugan himself acknowledges in
the preface to the book Poonachi, Or The Story Of A Black Goat,
about the priority status given to goats in his writings: He says –
I
am fearful of writing about humans; even more fearful of writing about gods, he
adds. To this, Francesc Miralles nods and says Amen!
Of
the five species of animals with which he is deeply familiar, ‘dogs and cats,’
according to Murugan, ‘are meant for poetry.’ ‘It is forbidden to write about
cows and pigs. That leaves only goats and sheep. Goats are problem-free,
harmless and, above all, energetic.” Goats are problem-free, harmless and above
all, energetic.”
So much for the importance of the title
to the novel!
Well, the ‘Narrator’ of Perumal Murugan’s
Poonachi,
[like Tolstoy’s Kholstomer] is also an animal, - but here, it’s NOT a horse,
but a goat!
It’s the story of a she-goat who carries
the burden of being different all her life, and who survives against all of
life’s insurmountable difficulties.
It is equally an expression of solidarity
with the animal world and the female condition as well!
At the same time, a veiled layer of
social and political satire also lies behind Poonachi, which, although, in
its superficial domain, is about a goat!
Moreover, the tale is also a commentary
on our times, on the choices we make as a society and as a nation, and the
increasing vulnerability of individuals, particularly writers and artists, who
resist when they are pressed to submit.
Perumal Murugan musta taken to the
Formalist strategy of defamiliarisation, to drive home his thoughts & ideas much better!
Quite possibly!
Images courtesy: Outlook India, Amazon India & Westa
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