Abstract

The following essay tries to lay down an introductory analysis of the concept of disgust, and apply the very same ideas as an analytical tool for selected literary works by a Marathi/English bilingual author. Disgust is a universal emotion among humans, however, the conditions under which each person feels disgust are largely determined by their cultural conditioning. Vilas Sarang is an author who wrote several short stories that were published in different magazines between the 1970s to 1980s, later some of them were compiled into a collection by Penguin. His works incite disgust and revulsion in their imagery, but only on the surface, his main goal is rather to document the condition of the people living different kinds of life outside the moral structures of well-fed upper and middle classes and castes. His works are also a look into the modern Indian society that has fractured modernity, and wobbles from the weight of it.