Dalit Literature: Recent Responses and Ruminations

Dalit literature with its traditions of protest, anger and rebellion against the mainstream literature has found its place on the world literary scenario thereby establishing itself as a distinct literary genre which has recently emerged in a milieu in which there is rather undoubtedly an increasing recognition and acknowledgement of the value of Dalit writings neatly conveying an unmistakable sense of optimism and sound hope for some better future with a firm sense of conviction that Dalit writings do convincingly interrogate and establish shared assumptions, views or opinions regarding Dalit consciousness in literature. Having received its first impetus with the arrival of notable and respectable leaders like Mahatma Phule and Dr Ambedkar in Maharashtra, who laid emphasis on the seminal concerns of Dalits through their theoretical writings, Dalit literature is said to have given birth to a new trend in Indian Writing in English. This edited volume of 26 research papers is a humble attempt to discover and fertilize the vast virgin territory of Dalit subjects in India with a focus on social hypocrisy and taboos, class discrimination class exploitation, intersectionality of caste, class and gender, panorama of psychological consciousness questioning caste and gender inequalities, subalternity, social realism and casteism, Dalit feminist standpoint, social injustice, Dalit feminism, longing for human integrity and dignity, vanquishing suppression through education, caste-class nexus, conservative and hedonistic religious extremism, marginalization, societal oppression and suppression, female emancipation, Dalit atrocities, class struggle, social and economic injustice, etc. This book will definitely serve its purpose of awakening Dalit consciousness in the readers.