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International Referred Research Journal, January, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954;VoL.III *ISSUE-36

Introduction: In an era when issues relating to humanrights have been under critical focus, literary depictionsof the experiences of marginalized groups have acquiredgreat significance. The recent spurt in Dalit literature inIndia is an attempt to bring to the forefront the experi-ences of discrimination, violence and poverty of theDalit. Expression of these experiences have long beensilenced, often with religious and social sanction andrelegated to the margins as non-literary. More recent is

the trend to deny their existence altogether. The grow-ing corpus of Dalit texts, poems, novels and autobiog-raphies, however, seek to rectify this phenomenon byexamining the nuances of Dalit culture. Dalit literatureis one of the most important literary movements toemerge in post-independence India. The transforma-tion of the stigmatized identity of these so called 'un-touchables' to a self chosen identity as Dalit is a storyof collective struggle waged over centuries. MahatmaJyotirao phule and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, two toweringfigures in the pantheon of Dalit history, were the first toappropriate the word, Dalit as a noun and an adjective,in the early decades of the 20 th century to describe theextreme oppression of untouchables.

The term 'Dalit literature' was first used in 1958,at the first ever Dalit conference held in Bombay. How-ever as an identity marker, the term 'Dalit' came intoprominence in 1972, when a group of young Marathiwriters-activists founded an organization called Dalitpanthers. The name expressed their feelings of kinshipand solidarity with Black Panthers who were engagedin a militant struggle for African - American rights in theU.S.A. Arjun Dangle, a writer and leader of the Dalitpanther movement, writes: "Dalit is not a caste but arealization and is related to the experiences, joys andsorrows and struggles of those in the lowest strata of society. It matures with a sociological point of view andis related to the principles of negativity, rebellion andloyalty to science, thus finally ending as revolution-ary." (Dangle, P. 264)

Dalit literature serves the purpose of Socialintervention and carries strong militant connotations.The nature of theses connotations varies dependingupon the writer's personality, motives and inspiration towrite the changing socio-cultural contexts. It is essen-tially for a right understanding of Dalit autobiographies

to keep in mind the historical, social and cultural settingto which they belong. The context, perspectives andcharacteristics of the historical trend differentially setthe quality of the concept of autobiographies viz a vizthe western definition of the genre. Here the Subject isan individual among many who shares the same typesof cultural ostracism, physical repression and socialstigma, the result being that he/she is kept out of thelegitimate boundaries of human society. The inner questfor identity, denunciations of the traditional Hindu dis-pensation and the social struggles to assert one's hu-man dignity take various forms according to the will,vision and capacity of the writer. Dalit writers haveformulated a Dalit literary theory, a frame work withinwhich Dalit writing should be read and evaluated. Dalitliterature is propagandistic because it is written to bringabout social change and the experience is articulated ina collective form. It is full of anger because the tormentsof Dalit life can't be expressed in sweet poetic stanzas.Objectives of the Study: This research paper aims atfulfilling following aims and objectives- 1. To study theDalit literature as a new dimension in literature as some-thing newer than used up. 2. To study the rise, growthand development of Dalit literature with its consequenceson society. 3. To evaluate the Dalit literature with otherkinds of literature such as African - American literature,British literature. 4. To analyze the Social condition of Dalit in India and point out the present status. 5.Tocreate awareness of the torments faced by Dalit to non-Dalit in India. 6. To study the heart rendering torturesfaced by Dalit with his experiences.7. To study thedifferent genres of literature of Dalit literature withMarxist oriented approach. 8. To compare the status of Dalit women with African-American women by citingexamples of their literary creations. The present researchstudy is based upon few hypotheses such as 1) Dalit is

an important part of society. But right from ancientperiod, he has been subjugated under the pretext of subordinate, inferior cog of this prestigious Hindusociety. Dalit literature is an outburst of the burningflame of exploited people from many centuries the Sup-pressed anger erupts through self narratives of Dalitliterature. 2) Dalits are no more remained to be Dalit(helpless) they are equally stronger with other peopleof the society. Their creativity shapes themselves into

Research Paper

January , 2012

An Era of Dalit literatureAn Explosion of muffled voices

* Prof. Sidhartha B. Sawant* S.S.V.P.S.'s Arts, Commerce and Science College Shindkheda, Dhule, Maharashtra.



67HODH, SAMIKSHA AUR MULYANKAN

International Referred Research Journal, January, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954;VoL.III *ISSUE-36the pinnacle of the so called rich society.3) ' Four varna'System was based on caste and it is restricted peopleto their occupation, without changing. But class struc-ture - upper class - lower class emerged in this modernera where money decides the status of people. 4) 'Dalit

movement' is a powerful action in the present literaturewhich changes the face of the society and it eliminatesthe subjugation of so called depressed class of thesociety. The present research undertakes a close studyof Dalit literature and Dalit literary works by taking aglimpsical review of Marathi Dalit poets, writers anddramatists. .The present study also takes a review of

journals, articles, magazines about Dalit literature pub-lished by national and international editors.Concept of Dalit: The term 'dalit' literally means "op-pressed" and is used to refer to the "untouchable"casteless sects of India. Dalit, also called outcaste, is aself designation for a group of people traditionally re-

garded as untouchables. Dalits are a mixed populationof numerous caste groups all over India, South Asia andall over the world. There are many different names pro-posed for defining this group of people like 'Ashprosh'(Untouchable), 'Harijans' (Children of God) 'Dalits, (Bro-ken People) etc.Etymology of the word 'Dalit' The word 'Dalit ' comesfrom the Sanskrit and it means "downtrodden", 'sup-pressed,' 'crushed' or 'broken to pieces'. It was first usedby Jyotirao phule in the nineteenth century in the con-text of the oppression faced by the erstwhile "Untouch-able" castes of the twice-born Hindus.Mahatma Gandhicoined the word 'Harijan', translated roughly as "chil-

dren of God" to identify the former untouchables.Mythology: The religious scripture 'Manu smriti' de-scribed 'Varna system' of the society based upon theoccupation. It is a four storey varna system comprisingfour kinds of people of the society borne out of the bodyof Lord Vishnu. According to this mythology, Brahminwas born out of head, Kshatriya was born out of arms,Vaishya was born out of abdomen and shudra was bornout of feet. It emphasized on shudra as a slave, servantbecause he was born out of feet so that he was destinedto serve the rest of the society. Thereby, shudra (Dalit)was recognized as an inferior part of the society, ratheran outcaste of society.Social status of Dalit : Dalits have been destined forinferior activities such as leather work, butchering orremoval of rubbish, animal carcasses and waste; by thisso called civilized Hindu society. Dalits work as manuallaborers cleaning street, latrines and sewers. Engagingin these activities was considered to be polluting to theindividual and this pollution was considered conta-gious. As a result, Dalits were commonly segregatedand banned from full participation in Hindu social life.For example they could not enter in a temple or a school

and were required to stay outside the village. The Un-touchability was practiced everywhere in the society.Even a Dalit could not draw water from a public well;instead he had to wait until a touchable person showedfavor and offered him water without any touching. The

shadow of Dalit too polluted the pious people of thesociety. To avoid this; a Dalit had to come in the villagein afternoon time when his shadow would be at his feetonly. All this shows that Dalit had been living a life of animal in those society for many centuries.Practice of untouchability:- Universally 'untouchabil-ity' was practiced on large scale by the civilized Hindus.Untouchables were all those belonged to lower castecommunity. Regarding this Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkarsaid- "Untouchability is really a class struggle betweencaste Hindus and untouchables and it is never endingconflict." Untouchability was born something around400 A. D. Earlier it was based upon profession but in

peshwa's regime, it was the worst time for Dalit. Dalitswere treated like an animal so that one rightly claimedthat even slavery is better than untouchability.Dalit Movements in India: The earliest known Dalitreformer was Lord Gautam Budha, who preached theabolishing of untouchability. The earliest known refor-mation within Hinduism happened during the medievalperiod when the Bhakti movements actively engaged inthe participation and inclusion of dalits. In the 19thcentury, the Brahmo samaj, Arya samaj and theRamakrishna mission actively participated in the eman-cipation of Dalits.

Saint kabir, mahanubhava sect, varkari sect inMaharashtra rejected the term untouchability and em-braced Dalits as brothers. Maharashtra state was thekey state in the reformation of Dalit or on the transfor-mation of untouchable to touchable. Mahatma JyotibaPhule,Rajashri Shahu Maharaj, V. R. Shinde and thepinnacle towering figure Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar werethe prominent social reformers in Maharashtra. In the1950, Ambedkar turned his attention to Buddhism andconverted thousands of untouchable people in Bud-dhism with himself. In west Bengal chaitanya prabhuinitiated a movement called 'Namo shudras movement'(bow to Dalit) which changed an attitude towards un-touchable community. Overall, Dalit reform movementshad been in India since ancient period right from GautamaBuddha. Still it is in course of reforming state by creativeefforts of social reformers.Review of Dalit literature: Dalit literature is a newphenomenon in the modern era of literature where thetormenting experiences of Dalit, Untouchable writersare exposed to present the contemporary social, mentalcondition before Dalit and non- dalit readers. Mulk RajAnand was the first to insulate Dalit literature throughhis novels like 'Untouchable', 'Coolie' in English and



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International Referred Research Journal, January, 2012. ISSN- 0974-2832, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/29954;VoL.III *ISSUE-36there are simultaneously translated in English and dif-ferent languages. The style of Dalit literature covers awide range of literary genres. This Dalit literature ismade popular in Marathi by Maharashtra Dalit poets,writers. It solely aims at generating awareness of dalits

about their social situation in the society, to all con-scious readers.A) Dalit poetry: There is a plenty of Dalit poetry ex-pressing the violent lashing experiences of poet's lifeeffectively. Narayan survey was one of the prominentpoets in the early Dalit literature. His famous poem was'vidhyapith'. The other poets like keshav Meshram-"Utkhanan" (Excavation), Daya pawar- 'Kondwada'(suffocating Enclosure), Namedeo Dhasal - 'Golpitha'(The Red Light zone), Triyambak sapkal - 'Surung' (dy-namite) and so on. The new generation of Dalit poetryemerged in the contemporary period as a revolt or pro-test against the oppressive traditional shackles.

B) Dalit folk poetry: Unlike the tremendous Dalit poetryas a powerful mean of dalit expressions, folk poetry toopracticed for propoganding Dalit sensibility. Vaman dadakardak, Bhimrao kardak, Vitthal Umap, and so on are theprominent Dalit folk poets.The folk poetry includesBallads which enthralled the common people of Dalitcommunity. It too creates awareness about Dalit reformmovements.c) Dalit short stories : Short stories and novels areimportant genre of literature that exploited by dalit writ-ers for expressing Dalit sensibility aptly. The short sto-ries like 'Fakira'- Anna Bhau sathe, 'Davandi'- Shankarraokharat, 'Jevah Mi Jaat Chorli Hoti (When I robbed a

caste) - 1963 Maran Swast Hot Aahe-1969 (Death isbecoming cheap)- Baburao Bagul, Red stone - N. G.Shende are the best examples of Dalit short stories byDalit writers.d) Dalit Auto narratives: Dalit writers mostly interpretedtheir own experiences regarding social injustice in theirown autobiographies. It is called Dalit Auto-narrative.This form of literature is best suited to Dalit writer. Thereare many Dalit auto-narratives produced in the recentyears such as - Daya Pawar - Baluta, P. V. Sonkamble- Athvaniche pakshi, Shakarrao kharat - Taral AntaralTaral Antaral, Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar - Me AsaGhadalo , Laxman Mane - Upara, Laxman Gaikwad -Uchalaya' Rustum Aachalkhamb - GavakiDalit Women Writers: Dalit women presented theirexperiences rather more elusively than Dalit men writ-

ers. Because a Dalit woman suffers from triple con-sciousness i.e. sex, class and caste. The Dalit womenwriters are such as -Shantabai Kamble -Majya Jalmachi Chittarkatha ,Urmila Pawar -Aaydan, Baby Kamble - Jina AmuchaTamil writer Bam -KorakuDalit plays: Drama, though it is not as popular mean of literature as poetry and auto-narratives, is too a bestsource of Dalit sensibility expressions. The Dalit playsare equally popular. They are -M.V. Chitnis -Yug yatraGangadhar Pantawane-Mritushala, Mask Datta Bhagat -Wata PalwataB.C. Shinde -Udvast (Destroyed)Ramnath Chavan -Bamanwada (Brahmin lane)

Thus Dalit literature is produced on large scaleafter the Dalit reform movement created awareness inthem and it mostly comes out in post Independence

period.Conclusion : On the whole, Dalit literature gives a mes-sage about their community not individuality, aboutrevolt not passivity, about progress not backwardness.This message is to the entire world about their status insociety by portraying the exploitive, helpless, and en-grossed with grief, suppressed and enslaved and asubaltern state. To some extent, Dalit in India can becompared with African American regarding the mutila-tion. The shared political position of these authors isagainst the hegemony of upper and middle class Hindubeliefs and for the power of the human beings againstoppressive social rules. Dalit author questioned reli-

gion and Identity throughout their literature. It could besaid that Dalit literature achieved a firm foundation inthe mid-20th century; but its framework was estab-lished in the early 19th century. Today Dalit writers havetheir literary foundation with ideology and publishnumerous journals. They also have a number of politicalorganizations supporting them. The most prominent of these is the Dalit panthers (begun in the 19705), whichhas borrowed much of it's ideology from America's Black panthers. The future of Dalit literature is embarked onthe present status of Dalit and their sensibility. Andcertainly new reforming waves are blowing for the radi-cal development in Dalit literature as literature of pro-test. Thus Dalit literature is a new dimension in the daytoday and used up literature. With great amaze, peoplefascinate towards this new charismatic dimension inliterature i.e. Dalit literature.

1. Dalit - The Black Untouchables of India, V.T. Rajshekara. 2003 - 2nd print, Clarity Press, Inc. ISBN 0932863-05-1. 2. Untouchable: Voices of the dalitLiberation Movement, by Barbara R. Joshi, Zed Books, 1986. ISBN 0862324602, 97808622324605. 3. An Anthology of Dalit Literature, by Mulk RajAnand. 1992 Gyan Books. ISBN 8121204194, ISBN 9788121204194. 4.Dalits and the Democratic Revolution -Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit Movementis Colonial India, by Gail Omvedt. 1994, Sage Publications, 5. Dalit Identity and Politics, by Ranabira Samaddara, Ghanshyam Shah, Sage Publications,2001. 6. Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature, by Sharankumar Limbale. 2004 Orient longman. 7. Dalit Politics and Literature, by Pradeep K. Sharma.Shipra Publications, 2006. 8. "From Erasure to Assertion"- an article by Dr. Shobha Shinde published in the journal 'Critical Practice' (Vol.XIV 2007).

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