Dynamics of Upper Caste Paramountcy as Expressed in Dalit Literature A Reading of Sharankumar Limbales

Abstract

Dalit literature is a kind of writing that evolved after independence. The beginning of Dalit literature has significant historical relevance. Similar writings exploring the lives and the pathetic existence of the marginalized and downtrodden sections feature in many other countries also, cutting across borders. Arjun Dangle has defined Dalit literature as one which familiarises the readers with the age-old caste system and untouchability in India. As we know, the caste system in India has always relegated Dalits to the marginalized ‘other’ side of Indian society; in other words, they were fully excluded from the social mainstream. So when they began protesting after centuries of silence, a new kind of literature came to the fore that depicted an assertion of human rights, self-esteem, revolt against social oppression, stories of personal and collective suffering, and put forth a vision of a new society sans any discrimination. The word Dalit is not new; it was in use in the 1930s as the Hindi and Marathi translation of ‘Depressed classes,’ a term the British used for the present-day Scheduled Castes.