Contemporary Tamil Dalit Feminist Poetics

Abstract

Contemporary Tamil Dalit feminist poets challenge dominant ideas in mainstream Hinduismwith its inscribed caste and gender discriminations oppressing Dalits. Writing in the spokenTamil familiar to all Tamil speaking people, they address the struggles of Dalit women indaily life, their sexual oppression, and their desire for autonomy. I examine the social andpolitical themes and aesthetics of Tamil Dalit feminist poetry in the light of the rationalist andmaterialist theories of Dr. Ambedkar and E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (known as Periyar). Poetssuch as, Meena Kandasamy, Sukirtharani, Malathy Maithri, Ku Uma Devi, and N.D. Rajkumarwrite on themes of sexuality, caste oppression, and gender oppression, thus openly defyingassumptions about Dalit women and challenging caste dominant rules of poetry, society andlanguage. These poets’ concerns can be traced to the lineage of Dalit song traditions whichwere ceremonial and political, as well as the anti-caste movement in Tamil Nadu led by Periyar.Today’s Dalit feminist poets in Tamil Nadu continue to be energised by Periyar’s challenge tonationalist politics, decolonising hegemonic gender and caste ideologies. They use imaginationand logic to articulate their challenge to caste hegemony and present the interconnection ofland, body and sexuality, thus claiming their subjectivity.Keywords:Dalit feminist poetics, caste and gender oppression, rationalist and materialisttheories of Ambedkar and Periyar, decolonisation, claiming subjectivity