Paper Title
Voices of the Dominant and the Dominated: A Pragmatic Study of Flouting Maxims as a Tool of Marginalization in Mahesh Dattani’s Tara

Abstract
This research paper delves into the complex bond between communicative patterns and dominance patterns in Mahesh Dattani’s play Tara. The base of the study is Pragmatics. The study uses the flouting of Gricean maxims of cooperative principle as a tool to analyze the dialogues of the characters to observe the power dynamics. It is an attempt to explore how the flouting of conversational maxims serves as an intentional tool for suppression and the statement of male domination. The study examines the dialogues of the dominant characters like father of Tara Mr. Patel and the dominated characters like the protagonist Tara and her mother Bharati. The study uncovers how the maxims of quality, quantity, manner and relevance are flouted to suppress the marginalized women and strengthen gendered power dynamics. In addition, the study reveals how the lead character who is trapped in patriarchal family Tara tries to regain control by means of sarcastic flouting of the maxims. Eventually, this study asserts that the flouting of H. P. Grice’s conversational norms in the play Tara is not an act of miscommunication but a planned socially driven pragmatic technique which reflects catastrophic breakdown of the conjoined twins named Tara and Chandan. Keywords - Pragmatics, Gricean Maxims, Flouting, Marginalized, Power Dynamics, Patriarchal