Resistance and Recuperation: Developing a Dalit Feminist Standpoint in Baby Kamble’s The Prisons We Broke

Abstract

India has been a democracy for over six decades, and it has progressed by leaps and bounds in different spheres, from roads to the moon; it has proved its charisma and calibre in contexts of discoveries and new theories. But do its social credentials stand up to scrutiny? No, in spite of progressing this much, inequality soared to the highest levels in some areas, and it has not translated into greater welfare for the majority of the Indian population. Dalit community is one of those unfortunate people who are lacking in social honour because of their class and caste. As of now, their literature is the most circulated means to know about their situation, and we will see that most of the literature available is in the form of their biographies and autobiographies. Here, I am looking for the cultural dynamics and power relations responsible for the crippled existence of ‘a Dalit female’ and how they get a Dalit female standpoint to speculate over the situations and strive for betterment by analyzing a Dalit female narrative The Prisons We Broke by Baby Kamble.