LITERATURE AS A TRANSITIONAL FORCE IN UPLIFTING DALITS & OTHER MARGINALIZED CLASSES IN INDIA (original) (raw)
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Role of Dalit Literature in Social Change in India
International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research (IJFMR), 2024
India, recognised as one of the world's fastest-growing nations, bears the burden of a deeply entrenched caste system. This paper delves into the historical backdrop of suppression, the plight of the oppressed, and the genesis of Dalit literature. It meticulously examines the trajectory and breadth of the Dalit literary movement, which is often rooted in the philosophical tenets espoused by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Furthermore, it scrutinises the harsh realities faced by Dalits and their commendable efforts to challenge social hierarchies. Dalit literature serves as a powerful medium for conveying the poignant social and political experiences of the Dalit community within the caste-based framework of Indian society. It sheds light on the myriad social factors shaping the lives of Dalits and their interactions with both Dalit and non-Dalit communities. Through vivid narratives, it elucidates the struggles endured by the Dalit community in their quest for equality and liberty. The relentless efforts of Dalit movements, coupled with the impactful discourse presented in Dalit literature, have contributed to a perceptible shift towards equality within Dalit social dynamics. The legal prohibition of discrimination based on caste and gender signifies a significant milestone in this ongoing journey. Dalit literature encapsulates the journey of the oppressed, from grappling with questions of identity to striving for social parity. This paper underscores the transformative potential of Dalit literature as a catalyst for social change, offering a glimpse into the evolving landscape of equality and justice within Dalit communities. Through their literary expressions, Dalit writers continue to champion the cause of social justice and advocate for the rights and dignity of all individuals, irrespective of caste or gender.
Dalit Subaltern : Revolutionary Literature in India
AMRJ PUBLICATION , 2021
The concept of caste Dalit ,as well as the literature created by Dalits in India, has been thoroughly examined in this paper. Dalits have written a diverse range of literary works based on their own personal experiences. The experiences of being a Dalit has inspired them to represent their inhuman situation ,which is exacerbated by India's infamous caste system, which has existed for centuries. The beginning of the caste system with beginning of Hindu religious theology, where in India are there stratification/Savarnas among Hindu communities. The Dalits are on the fourth rung of the social ladder. as a Dalit , they are treated even worse ,as if they were an animal. they have been denied their basic human rights and the dignity to live as human beings for many years, they have been subjected to various forms of humiliation, torture, and slavery, and they have been denied the right to live. This long standing denial has caused India's Dalit community to vent their anguish and sense powerlessness via various forms of writing. They have spoken out against the harsh Hindu caste system that continues to oppress them in all aspects of life through their micronarratives.
Perspectives on Indian Dalit Literature: Critical Responses
Booksclinic Publishing, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, 2020
The book “Perspectives on Indian Dalit Literature: Critical Responses” is a volume of twenty six scholarly articles focusing on the theme of Dalit’s freedom and emancipation from traditional caste-stigmatised society which sacrifices the interest of Dalits on the altar of tradition. The book endeavours to articulate voices among this marginalized class of people to come in action from their passivity and stillness. The book also tries to cover almost all eminent Dalit writers of past and present century like Omprakash Valmiki, Baby Kamble, Bama Faustina Soosairaj, Meena Kandasamy, Namdeo Dhasal, Sharankumar Limbale, Bhimrao Shirwale, Hira Bansode etc. along with some non-Dalit wrters like Munshi Premchand, Mulk Raj Anand, Arvind Adiga etc. who have sought plea for this marginalized class of people with same ardour and passion as other Dalit writers through their write ups. Hopefully this anthology would serve for better humanity.
Giving Voice to Voiceless: A Study of Dalit Literature
Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research journal, 2014
The term ‘Dalit’ is synonymous with poor, exploited, oppressed and needy people. There is no universally acclaimed concept about the origin of Indian caste system. In every civilized society, there are some types of inequalities that lead to social discrimination. And in India, it comes in the garb of ‘Casteism’. The discourses catering to the gentry tastes did not include the subaltern literary voices of the tribals, Dalits and other minority people. The dalits are deprived of their fundamental rights of education, possession of assets and right to equality. Thus Dalit Literature emerges to voice for all those oppressed, exploited and marginalized communities who endured this social inequality and exploitation for so long. The major concern of Dalit Literature is the emancipation of Dalits from this ageless bondage of slavery. Dalits use their writings as a weapon to vent out their anger against the social hierarchy which is responsible for their degradation. After a so long slumber now, they have become conscious about their identity as a human being. This Dalit consciousness and self-realization about their identity has been centrally focused in various vibrant and multifarious creative writings and is also widely applauded in the works of Mahasweta Devi, Bama, Arjun Dangle, D. Gopi and in many more. The anguish represented by the Dalit writers is not that of an individual but of the whole outcast society. The primary concern of present paper is to show how Dalit writers shatter the silence surrounding the unheard exploitation of Dalits in our country in their writings? And how Dalit Literature has become a vehicle of explosion of these muffled voices. The paper makes an attempt to comprehend the vision and voice of the Dalits and their journey from voiceless and passive objects of history to self-conscious subject. The paper will also make a study of the reasons behind the development of Dalit Literature with its consequences on our society, social condition of Dalit in India and how they write their own history. Keywords: Self-realization, Identity, Exploitation, Caste, Subaltern
EMERGENCE OF DALIT AND DALIT LITERATURE IN INDIA
This research paper attempts to study the emergence of the term dalit and its various interpretations. Though the opinion of pro minent figures like Gandhi, A mbedkar, Phule, EV Ramaswami, Dalit Panthers Movement, Marxist, and others are analyzed, the contemporary writers have not been included in this paper. Further I analyse the term "dalit literature" and its various implications. I argue that the representation of dalit literature celebrates the dalit condition as an unparalleled one an d a permanent entity. It ignores the differences within the dalit communities; rather they concentrate on building on similarities. Through these similarit ies they create a dalit identity and culture that defines "Dalitness' which is not only national but international in its inspiration. To this end dalit writers find and celebrate the similarities of dalit literature with Black literature inspired by the Panthers Movements in USA. Thus transformation of the "dalit" identity" represents a new type of polit ical assertion that confronts, counters and redesigns older forms of struggles, against both class and caste exploitation.
ODISEA. Revista de estudios ingleses, 2018
This paper analyses the situation of Untouchable / Dalit people in India through intersecting literature and social realities. It focuses on the most relevant and pioneering literary works of colonial and postcolonial times and how these landmarks of fiction function as a mimetic expression of everyday life. Then, the main objective is 1) to give an overview of the representation of untouchability and its evolution into the Dalit consciousness within the interrelated contexts of literature and real life; and 2) to demonstrate that in much less than a century India has witnessed astonishing changes as far as the social stratification of caste-gender is concerned.
Dalit Literature in India: An Agitation to a Genre
What is a Dalit literature? It is always very hard to define the exact time and place of its beginning. Dalit word is originated form Sanskrit word ‘dalita’ which means broken, oppressed, split, untouchable and exploited. Dalits came from poor section of the society that under the caste system of India used to be known as untouchables. Dr. B.R. Ambedker called them ‘broken people’ and Mahatma Gandhi gave them a new name ‘Harijan’. We only can guess its history from the written source based on “Manusmirity”, one of the most religious books of Hindu mythology. Traditional Indian society is divided into four hierarchical caste systems or varnas: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The four varnas or castes are subdivided into many sub castes. Shudras occupy the lowest position in the social order and Dalits are from this section of society. Even we find some streak of Dalits in the Hindu epics in “Ramayana” and “Mahabharta”. In Mahabharta we find the episode of Eklaviya, whom Guru Drona refused to teach him, because he was from a dalit caste. And we know how he learnt the archery and Drona asked for his right hand’s thumb
Dalit's woman Exclusion in the selected novels of Meena Kandasamy and Urmila Pawar
Research chronicler, 2019
In the advent of feminism, Intersectionality and in the gender studies, the literature has identified the power structures. Dalit literature immerged as a part of social reformation movement. During the 20th century, in the age of post-modernism and post-colonialism, the world faced a democratic revolution which demanded a society with equal human rights. It brought forth the marginal, aboriginal and the oppressed. The new waves of humanism spread across India also and many social revolutionaries started movements against the stigmatized social practices. The movement also challenged the hierarchy of caste system which is believed to be a root cause of the Dalit literature is primarily written to give voice to the dalits. Hence, it has its own aesthetics with newer subjects, styles, techniques and forms. It is mostly written in regional languages as it is rooted in the soil. It's also a paradox for dalit literature as on one hand it is written in regional languages for authenticity and on the other hand the sole purpose of its creation is to make the world hear about their existence and oppressed condition. The thesis based on the works of Meena Kandasamy and Urmila Pawar's selected works on Exclusion, Assertion and Patriarchy. The architecture of the thesis is divided into four chapters on Exclusion, Oppression and the knowledge of rights known to the subalterns.
An Overview of Dalit Literature: A Special Reference to Marathi Dalit Literature
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An anthology of Dalit literature, Poisoned Bread, stirred the literary world not only in Maharashtra but in the whole country. The editor of this anthology is Arjun Dangle, an eminent scholar, who wrote about the past, present and future of Dalit literature. He explored several issues related to Dalit Literature such as B. R. Ambedkar’s influence on the Dalit Literary movement, Progressive Writer’s Association with Dalit Literature, the caste system in India, Little Magazine Movement, Dalit Panthers and Dalit Literature, the importance of Dalit autobiographies in Dalit Literature, etc. The host of Dalit writers like Anna Bhau Sathe, Laxman Mane, Laxman Gaikwad, Arun Kamble, Shantabai Kamble, Baby Kamble, Namdeo Dhasal, Raja Dhale, Uttam Bandu Tupe, Bandu Madhav, Sharankumar Limbale, Waman Nimbalkar, and Bhimsen Dethe have enriched Dalit Literature with their bitter life experiences and literary sensibilities. The most crucial motive of the Dalit Literature is the liberation of Dalit...
Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 2019
The project “Non-Dalit sensitivity for the Dalit literature amongst The students of literature in colleges of Mumbai University” is an the effort to find out the general attitude of the students of literature, across Mumbai colleges, towards Marginal Literature in general, and the Dalit literature in particular. Dalits were always marginalized ‘other’ side of the Indian society. So when they started speaking after the centuries of silence, about themselves, we have got the writings depicting assertion of human rights, self-pride, revolt against social injustice, chronicles of personal and collective suffering, and hopes and aspirations for a new society devoid of discrimination. For many years in Indian literature studies across the departments of language and literature, the syllabus, the curriculum, and the pedagogy were strongly rooted in the Western writings, aesthetics, ideologies, and sensitivities. Especially the English departments across the universities in India have prided themselves to be‘perfect’ role models in copying the exact writers, the same books, the similar novels and poetry and the similar critical theories of evaluation as their Western counterparts. For them, the literature started in England and ended also over there for all these centuries and whatever is not written in the English language had never been considered worthy of any serious consideration in a literature classroom.