Voices of Dalit Literature Through Self Narration

Abstract:

Autobiography has remained a significant segment of Dalit literature since nineteen hundred and sixties. Dalit literature has emerged through the Dalit movement in Maharashtra.It has been a favorite genre with Dalit writers. This paper seeks to analyse Omprakash Valmiki’s Joothan: A Dalit’s Life (2003), Sarankumar Limbale’s The Outcaste: Akkarmasi (2007), and Bama’s Karukku (2001). In these autobiographies, one finds a complete representation of the self and its problems. Although autobiography is a European genre, concerned with the representation of the self, Dalit autobiography is strikingly different from the European models in that it makes “self” only a locus for representing the social reality. In other words, in Dalit autobiography the focus is not on “self” but “Dalit community”. Dalit autobiography is not just of a remembrance of things past, but a shaping and structuring of them to help one to understand one’s life and the society. The act of narration involves the political act of self-assertion and self creation. So, these are the public functions of Dalit autobiographies. On the other hand, authenticity of experience is the most outstanding quality of Dalit autobiography. It articulates the rage against education and social system that privileges the upper caste. However, it is incorrect to say that Dalit autobiography is a mere reportage of the pain and suffering of the untouchables. The ultimate goal of Dalit literature is to evoke the Dalit consciousness.