SELF-AWAKENING AND IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH DALIT LITERATURE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v12.i6.2024.6823Keywords:
Dalit Literature, Dalit Consciousness, Self-Awakening, Identity Formation, Resistance Narratives, Social Justice, Contemporary English LiteratureAbstract [English]
In the modern day, Dalit literature in the English language has become an effective tool of expression of the situations, challenges, and visions of historically marginalized populations in India. This paper will look at the theme of self- awakening and creation of identity in Dalit writing particularly the formation of Dalit consciousness and the stories of resistance and self-realization. Literature is a medium through which Dalit writers have fought against the discriminatory caste system, revealed the social injustices, and re-established their voices in the literary and cultural realm. These authors, by narrating autobiographies and fictional works, and by . the means of reflective essays, emphasize how oppressed people become aware of their social situation and demand their rights and dignity. The paper also highlights the importance of education, group fight and reclaiming of their culture in the making of Dalit identity and empowerment. Through a thematic investigation of such dimensions, the paper reveals the ways in which modern English Dalit literature is able to make contributions to the wider discourses on social justice, equality, and human rights and facilitate the changing of the marginalized identities into empowered voices of resistance and self-realization.
Downloads
References
Anand, M. R. (2012). Realism in the Colony. In Realism in the Twentieth-Century Indian Novel: Colonial Difference and Literary Form (1). https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139226554.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139226554.001
Ananda, P., and Lahkar, M. (2023). Voices of Marginalisation: Literary Records of Trauma. SLC India Publisher.
Babu, D. S. (2015). The Dialectics of Caste and Nation in Hindi Dalit Writer’s Autobiography: Position and Proposition. Literary Oracle, 178.
Biswas, M. (2018). Caste and Socio-Cultural Mobility in West Bengal: A Hybrid Cultural Elocution of Matua Reforms Movement. Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 10(2), 232–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/2455328X18787568 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2455328X18787568
Fazal, T. (2014). Nation-State and Minority Rights in India: Comparative Perspectives on Muslim and Sikh Identities. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315796857 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315796857
Haldar, D. (2019). Mapping the Body Politic: A Critical Study of Dalit Women’s Poetry in Post-1947 India.
Kelshikar, M. (n.d.). Harriet Jacobs: The Crusader of the New Woman. In International Conference on Literature, Society and the Global Media (82).
Kim, K. (2004). Indian Theologies. In J. Parratt (Ed.), An Introduction to Third World Theologies. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801587.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801587.003
Marbaniang, D. (2018). Karmic and Abrahamic Faiths: Comparative Themes for Interreligious Dialogue. Lulu Press.
Parratt, J. (Ed.). (2004). An Introduction to Third World Theologies. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801587 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801587
Pravat, P. S. (2011). Shifting Conceptions of Social (In)Justice in Nepal. New Angle: Nepal Journal of Social Science and Public Policy, 1(1), 49–64. https://doi.org/10.53037/na.v1i1.41 DOI: https://doi.org/10.53037/na.v1i1.41
Samy, A. M. A. (2005). Zen: Awakening to Your Original Face. Cre-A.
Varghese, V. C. (2016). Dalit Christian Life in the Interactional Milieu: A Social Dominance Perspective. Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 8(2), 220–238. https://doi.org/10.1177/2455328X16662368 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2455328X16662368
Vinod, C. V. (2012). A Critical Reflection on the Theological Realm of Dalit Christian Exclusion in Catholicism in India. Voice of Dalit, 5(1), 45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0974354520120104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0974354520120104
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Deepak Kumar, Dr. Suresh Kumar

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
With the licence CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author.
It is not necessary to ask for further permission from the author or journal board.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.





















