Dalit writing in Bangla

Abstract

This chapter highlights the documentary and subversive potential of Dalit literature in Bangla. Dalit literature in Bangla has remained far less visible than Dalit literature in many other bhasas. The newfound visibility that this branch of writing is beginning to command has the promise to help us understand power dynamics and the politics of canon formation in modern Indian literature in a more nuanced way. This chapter aims to contribute in this direction by focusing on the writings of two writers of Bangla Dalit literature. Deploying the tools of thematology, it seeks to highlight the use of literary themes by Manoranjan Byapari and Manju Bala and to understand their literary configurations comparatively in the context of how caste figures in our national imaginary, the relationship between caste and class envisaged in Dalit literature in Bangla, and tropes of repression, collaboration, and resistance.