Dalit literature: decoding voices of resistance and despair Premium

The Hindu lists out books by Dalit writers in Dalit history month

Caste discrimination and untouchability have run unchecked in our country for decades even though constitutional law provides for the protection of the most vulnerable people. If poverty, as often quoted, has made it easy for subjugation to continue, it also gave birth to people who have given themselves to struggles against race and ethnicity and championed civil rights movements.

Though limited within the form, the protest literature that emerged from the exploitation and exclusion of Dalit communities, lent a new voice and identity to the marginalised. Over the decades, Dalit literature has become an empowering case for social equality and human dignity, and enriched and diversified Indian literature, ushering in fresh perspectives.

Treated as a strong and separate category of literature in many Indian languages by literary associations, the documentation of Dalit history and experiences has contributed to a more inclusive understanding of the community.

The power of language of Dalit writers has challenged oppression, shaped consciousness, and sparked awareness and empathy. Small victories may have gained recognition, but it is pertinent to explore literature because it traces and enables connections with global histories of racism and social exclusion and unifies the need for advocacy for change.

The writings of one of the most iconic Dalit writers in the history of India, B.R. Ambedkar, including his Annihilation of Caste (1936) and The Untouchables: Who Were They and Why They Became Untouchables (1948), are eye-openers. He explains caste is not simply a social evil, but a hierarchy, a system of persistent graded inequality, and that Dalit is not a caste but a realisation that is related to the experiences, sorrows and struggles of those in the lowest strata of society. The books provide instances of tyrannical practices against them (by upper caste Hindus) to awaken society to the caste system as Ambedkar always argued for social reforms over religion and politics.

Ambedkar: A Life (2022) by Shashi Tharoor is a deeply researched insight into Ambedkar’s birth into a family of Mahars, the humiliation and hurdles he overcame to fight the stigma against his community, his determination to make untouchability illegal and how he invested himself in an India with modern concepts of social justice.

Translated works have played a crucial role in making Dalit literature available to a wider audience. Gopinath Mohanty’s Harijan (1948) in Odiya is a radical novel of the 20th century featuring the life story of the Mehentars who lived in slums and were allowed to only do the job of cleaning latrines with bare hands. The hard-hitting story was translated into English by Bikram Das in 2021.