Construction of Tribal Identity depicted in post-independence Odia Short story : A critical study

                                                         Dr. Kshirod Chandra Behera

Although tribal constitute about a quarter of the entire population, their contribution to the Odisha’s culture is immense. Its influence is amply evident in such like language, culture,society,economy,religion and politics. Indigenous culture no doubt grows and develops in the tribal regions but it gradually spreads to the plains and urban areas. The developed form of tribal culture as we see today has passed through different stages of struggle and resistance.The institutional changes that came in the wake of India’s independence from the foreign yoke, triggered sweeping changes in tribal society. Crucially important in this respect are the provisions  enshrined in the constitution for the welfare of the Schedule Tribes, which facilitates an inclusive growth among the tribes. This marks a steady march of the tribal from jungles to cities, from illiteracy to education, from ‘ podu chasa’ ( agriculture) to industries , from darkness to electricity, even solar power in the most inaccessible areas. Not being merely confined to be objects of research, tribal art, sculptures, costumes, festivals and religious practices, cultural icons attained greater visibility and commercial viability in the global marketplace. It must be said here that, globalisation, free economy, mass media and communications, not only propelled an expansion of their culture but it also created a sense of uncertainty in their identity. Thus, they faced a new crisis in their culture and identity.

                       Identity crisis of the tribal has been a standard theme of Odia writers for over fifty years. Remarkable among the writers are Surendra Mohanty, Gopinath Mohanty, Bamacharan Mitra, Pranabandhu Kar, Chandrasekhar Ratha, Krusnaprasad Mishra, Bhubaneswar Behera, Pratibha Ray, Satakadi Hota, Bipinbehari Mishra, Ramachandra Behera, Hrushikesh Panda and Sadananda Tripathy. Reclaiming identity has become the immediate concern of these writers. The paper proposes to explore, explain and analyse the various ways in which the writers depicted how the tribal grappled with their identity crisis.