Metaphors of Conquest: Towards the Aesthetics of Dalit Feminism through Select Texts and Contexts

(Kalyani Thakur, Poem no. 33, Chandalinir Kobita. 2011 Translated from Bangla by Jaydeep Sarangi. Unpublished)

When Shantabai Dhanaji Dani was studying in the fifth standard, the family was invited to her father’s friend’s house for the Holi feast. The friend belonged to Maratha caste so Shantabai and her father were served food in the cattle shed when all others ate well inside the house. Shantabai recalled the above conversation that she had with her father that evening in the shed. Dalit literature uses the written word as a weapon against the inhuman oppression of dalits by the Brahmanical social order that denies them basic human rights and dignity. Arjun Dangle, the editor of Poisoned Bread and a political activist/writer from Maharashtra, India, defining dalit literature in an interview says,

Earlier Dalits were only the ones who were out-castes and had dwelling outside the native. However, we have tried to make it more pervasive and inclusive. We define and conceive Dalits as those who are depressed and unorganized socially, politically, economically and culturally. This is not a mere caste but a realization, feeling. The feeling is of oppressed and deprived by system. Nothing has changed so far as to change the meaning and scope of the word. (Sarangi & Dutta, 2014/15)

Dangle further says, ‘Dalit literature is not simply literature … (it) is associated with a movement to bring about change … it (is) strongly evident that there is no established critical theory behind (dalit writings); instead there is a new thinking and a new point of view’ (Dangle, 1994, pp. vii–viii). Though the term ‘dalit literature’ can be traced to the first dalit literary conference in 1958 in the state of Maharashtra, however, the literature by the dalits was being produced right from the 1920s. These were writers deeply concerned about the plight of the untouchables. The writings—articles, poems and stories—were being published to propagate the message of Dr B. R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule. Such writings have been increasingly receiving academic and disciplinary recognition throughout the country. Mahatma Phule and Dr B. R. Ambedkar provided primary impetus to the flourishing of such dalit literary movement. Bringing forth the issues of the dalits, this literary movement intensified during the 1960s and continued in full force till the 1980s in Maharashtra. This gave further momentum to dalit writers in other Indian languages, as Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi and Bengali. A general reading of some of the major literary texts of dalit literature showcase some basic trends. Dalit literature seeks to transform savarna society. It is a collective expression of anger about irritation towards and challenge to the oppressive machinery handed down by generations.

Kalyani Thakur, a renowned dalit feminist writer from Bengal, in an interview with Jaydeep Sarangi and Angana Dutta claimed, ‘For me, writing poems is participating in cultural movement. I write poems to register my thoughts and feelings. It does beyond the literary boundary. My poems address social issues. They are the poetics of age-old oppression against the dalits.’

When asked further, ‘What is your opinion on Brahminical system in Bengal?’

Kalyani Thakur replied,

May it Gandhi-ism or Marx-ism, it is the upper caste which rules. Dalits are victims everywhere. They are on the receiving end. The stratified Indian society beguiles the dalits to the whirlpool of social oppression and exploitation. I am against any sort of class distinction.

This new proposition as Kalayni Thakur embarks on is intended to give a new society and a fresh body of literature and aesthetics. She publishes a magazine, Neer, where plight of dalit women is documented. Dalit feminist writers’ corpus is like re-writing the history of a nation, politics of the time. While stringent social taboos conscribed their behaviour, severe strictures were laid down to prevent their access to knowledge and social mobility. Dalit women were taboo from walking on the road in daylight because even their shadow was considered polluting. Dalit women in India narrate their dalit agony, resistance, strengths and path of liberation. It is important to note here that while responding to the past experience, the dalit writers are conscious of the present and give hint of the future. They make essential contribution to national memory. These make a fervent plea for a complete overhaul of society by questioning prevailing practices of caste and class in different parts of India. One of the aims of writing dalit literature has been to reveal to the readers the injustice, oppression, helplessness and struggles of many of the disadvantaged populations under the social machine of stratification in India. Caste politics in Bengal is unique and culture specific. There is a rich diversity within dalit experiences in India. Dalit feminist writers use language that is militant and blunt. Their language is mostly colloquial and it gives a counter code to elite aesthetics defined by the upper caste and upper class citizens in India. Unconventionally militant similes, metaphors from their social ethos and analogies used seem to befittingly paint their social experiences, experience of the self, as well as that of fellow subaltern populations, as devoid of dignity and identity under the alien sky. Speaking as an inmate of the cage describes how on being tortured as Manoranjan Byapari (2012), Bangla dalit writer in Itibritte Chandal Jiban says, ‘skull would crack and brain fluid would sprinkle out. There will be downpour of blood. Turning humans into lumps of giddy flesh …’ (translation mine, p. 230). Ambedkarites (followers of Ambedkar) showered hope among dalits. Dalit writers from Bengal these days bear testimony to the role of the Namashudras of Bengal like Jogendra Nath Mandal, who stood hand in hand with Dr Ambedkar during elections, in the national life as well as in dalit history at the pan-Indian level.

In an Interview with Jaydeep Sarangi Bama Faustina exclaims,

It is the literature of oppressed people, telling about their pains, agonies, disappointments, defeats, humiliations, oppressions and depressions. It also speaks about their vibrant culture, dreams, values, convictions and their struggle for annihilation of caste in order to build a casteless society. It reveals their resistant and rebellious character, their strength and stamina to live amidst all odds and their resilient nature to love life and live it happily. It brings out their in born tendency to celebrate life and to fight against the caste ridden society by breaking through this inhuman system without breaking themselves. It liberates them and gives them their identity. It heals them and strengthens them to fight for their rights. (Muse India, 2012b)

When asked, ‘Who are the Dalits in India?’ Bama replied, ‘People who are discriminated against and socially excluded on account of their caste and who militantly oppose such a system of discrimination and dehumanization are Dalits. It also includes people who are marginalized based on class and gender’ (ibid., 2012b).

When the question was categorically on dalit feminism, ‘Do you like the tag “Dalit Feminism”?’ Bama responded, ‘Yes. The life of a Dalit woman is totally different from a non-Dalit woman. So, Dalit feminism is a must.’ Bama said in an interview,

“Dalit women” is the main theme of Sangathi. It reveals their protest and strategically ways and means of resistance in times of oppression and rejection. It celebrates their resilient nature and builds up hope. It talks about the strength that enables them to swim against the current and live with zeal and zest. (Muse India, 2012a)

Again when asked, ‘Please mention some of your works of resistance. What do you resist?’ Bama replied,

My second novel Sangathi, third novel Vanmam, fourth novel Manuci and most of all my short stories are some of my works of resistance. I resist all kinds of social injustices, oppressions and atrocities in any form that dehumanizes and humiliates a person—it may be based on caste, class or gender.

Birds become the metaphor in the story ‘Thavittu Kuruvi’ (husk-sparrow) and exploitation of the female body is described effectively. Watching two birds being pushed out of their nest by two bigger ones upsets the young Kalishwari. Bama in Karukku (2012) retorts:

We who are asleep must open our eyes and look about us. We must not accept the injustice of our enslavement by telling ourselves it is our fate, as if we have no true feelings; we must dare to stand up for change. We must crush all these institutions that use caste to bully us into submission, and demonstrate that among human beings there are none who are high or low. Those who have found their happiness by exploiting us are not going to go easily. It is we who have to place them where they belong and bring about a changed and just society where all are equal.

In the mid-1980s young dalit feminists in the business capital of India, Mumbai formed the Mahila Sansad and by 1995 Samvadini—Dalit Stree Sahitya Maanch. It spearheaded the dalit feminist literary movement in India (Rege, 2006, p. 64). Indian feminist critics like Kamla Bhasin and Nishat Said Khan opine that feminism is based on historically and culturally concentrate realities and levels of consciousness, perceptions and actions. Madhu Kishwar makes parallelism between Western feminism and feminism in India, ‘In the West, feminism undoubtedly played a liberating role for women, feminism evolved from women’s own struggles against oppressive power structures which excluded them from equal participation in many aspects of the economic, social and political life of their society.’

Dalit gender is a separate identity marker. Dalit feminist writers follow Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s ideology for the emancipation of women in the Indian context. Ambedkar had envisaged an egalitarian society by introducing Hindu Code Bill in the Parliament for the upliftment of the Indian women. Women following this ideology wrote their autobiographies and memoir to break the jinx of private domain and public sphere. When asked ‘Do you have any message in your writings?’ Kalyani Thakur replied,

I express my message in the editorials (both in books and magazines). I do it consciously. All editorial pieces in ‘Nir’ are deliberate and focused. I don’t do that for literary value only. This contains social and personal message. My message is the force through which I express my thoughts. My primary motive is the liberation of dalits. The nature of my literature consists in a rebellion against the suppression and humiliation suffered by the dalits.

Kalyani Thakur titles her autobiography in Bangla, Why Do I Write Charal (2016). This autobiography is a blood chilling record of a dalit woman in West Bengal. She interrogates the established babu feminists about their verbose talks at different academic seminars and conferences. When it comes to dalit, many babu feminists don’t raise their voice. Kalyani raises her voice against colonial acts of authority and oppression through her textual transmission. She narrates how she had to leave the job after a relentless struggle. Unless it is seen from a dalit woman’s perspective none can follow the pattern of machinery which crushed her to almost non-entity. Dalit feminism is a counter theoretical tool to read dalit women’s texts through the lenses of Ambedkar’s ideology. It doesn’t try to shake hands with the Western theorization of feminism. An insider’s experience is always more exotic and reliable though it may not be academically sound.

The dalit women in India undergo acute caste discrimination and domestic violence. Certain literary works by dalit women give a detailed description of the living conditions of the dalits ‘at an untouchable distance’. Most of them refer to the unhygienic cluster of huts, swarming with pigs and other animals which are an aversion to the caste Hindus, and the menial jobs which are imposed on dalits.

Baby Kamble, a Marathi dalit feminist writer, narrates how the dalit women are not allowed to use the common road that was used by the upper castes. She writes when somebody from these castes walked from the opposite direction, the Mahars had to leave the road, climb down into the shrubbery and walk through the thorny bushes on the roadside. Mahar women find it difficult to face the discrimination at the work places. The Brahmin women consider that their mere touch pollutes them while buying firewood from them. The Brahmin women do not allow their children to play if the Mahar women are on the business of selling firewood. Kamble narrates how the dalit women are made to suffer because of the orthodox belief of the Hinduism, The entire community had sunk deep in the mire of such dreadful superstitions. Dalit feminism is an Indian social reality; a loaded term that demands our critical attention. It has been considered as a politics of identity keeping in view the changing demands of dalit studies in India. Dalit feminists are vocal about the age-old historical neglect as handed down generation after generation. It is actually a movement. For social and political justice in relation with caste and gender as faced by dalit women in different parts of India. It argues for revisioning feminist politics by contextualising multiple or plural standpoints. Sharankumar Limbale’s noteworthy novel, The Hindu (2010), demonstrates the alcoholic’s world is essentially a man’s world where women are nothing more than objects of desire that can be violated at a man’s will. The endowed and empowered hundreds of common women with a voice they never had before, thereby sprouting the possibility of a widespread dalit women’s movement these days. The doubly oppressed dalit women, located at the lower-most rung of the hierarchical social ladder, broke their typical silence and entered the public space by performing against the oppressive alcoholic masculinity. This is a new facet in dalit feminist writing now.

Caste is a monstrous reality of India. We cannot deny that. It is very deep-rooted and bears the foundation of religion. It has religious sanctions. Historically, it could be seen that many changes had been brought in; however, the monster still lives. Social and cultural thoughts inculcated in the minds have, time and again, tried to destroy the edifices of caste system. We do agree and admit literature alone cannot bring the change but it can at least spread awareness among the masses.

Bama Faustina Soosairaj, one of the pioneers of dalit feminist literature from Tamil Nadu, has emerged as a prominent voice among the subcontinent women. Bama has personally experienced of two sides—one, she belongs to the marginalized group and two, she is a woman. Her seminal work Sangati, an autobiography of a community, is a dalit feminist narrative that is inclusive of a clarion call for social transformation. It is an astonishingly shocking account of the lives of dalit women who face the double disadvantage of caste and gender stereotypes. The story deals with personal, at times essentially private experiences of dalit women mapping their social identity and projected emancipation. Her texts may not have a general story as we see in a normal standard. Those stories are not linear. Some characters are flat and stereotypes. Events are episodic. Sangati is a corpus of the hardship of women who have worked hard all their lives, from the moment they are able to help with the care of younger siblings, or with responsibilities about the house, or outside. The story unfolds that how the economic instability of dalit women leads them towards the terrible violence by their fathers and husbands, and sometimes even other male family members. These women are oppressed and suffered under social machines. But even then they are not away from their daily activities such as preparing and eating food, celebrating family and social events, performing social rites, bathing and swimming. Items of food and how people eat food serve as important index for the dalit women. As a feminist writer Bama protests against all forms of oppression and relying on the strength and resilience of dalit women, makes an appeal for change and self-empowerment through education and collective action/movement. She portrays positive vibes from several social positions by visualizing certain freedoms enjoyed by dalit women: no dowry is required of them and widows can re-marry. She speaks for women folk of her community. These women including make plea to regain their identity and establish their sense of individual respect. In Vanmam, Bama narrates the police atrocity over the women folk of Parayars. It is so brutal that they become more scared of policeman than the riots. Bama exposes the ‘difference’ of dalit women from privileged upper caste women and also celebrates their ‘identity’ in their strength, hard labour and persistent resilience. The integrity of her character put to question again and yet again. It opens up a debate of politics of identity, what we may tag as a counter discourse. This corpus of dalit feminists is of those rare decolonized subaltern voices who selectively accepted benefits of modern education; training himself the reading and writing skills, but denied its sly injection of self-hatred given by the traditional propagators of education—the colonizing privileged society. As writers and activists, all these dalit feminists, prove to the nexus between the word and the deed, redefining aesthetics from margins. To Bama, the victimization faced by dalits (also referred to as tazhapattor—the lowered/oppressed and odukkapattor —the marginalized) is similar to other marginalized and neglected sections of society like children, women, the poor etc. In this collection, she writes with anguish at their condition and the treatment meted out to them by a heartless society. Sometimes, these coalesce and make their suffering worse—a poor, dalit woman is thus thrice marginalized and suffers three times over.

Dalit poetry in India is structurally alternative to the models prescribed by traditional Hindu aesthetics precisely because they are literatures of sociological oppression and economical exploitation. It is subversive, or assault to anthropomorphic practice of casteism in India. Dalit poetry is that militant in texture and aggressively blunt in meaning. It challenges codified language (because it has so far been used and manipulated only by the dominant, discriminating powers), it challenges assumptions, it challenges age-old world-views. Its temporal and political designation does not give justice to the artist whose intentions may subsequently be ignored. It is an aesthetics of pain, and a prolong longing; a powerful aesthetics of resistance.

For Meena Kandasamy, a volcanic Tamil poetess, poetry is about empirical truth and experience and she writes and reflects from where she is. The poems in Touch by Meena Kandasamy (2006) amplify, illustrate and carry on this struggle for power and autonomy by the women poets. For Meena Kandasamy, the young Tamil poetess, poetry is about empirical truth and experience and she writes and reflects from where she is:

‘We: their daughters,

We: the daughters of their soil.

We, mostly, write. (‘Their Daughters’, p. 26)

Touch (2006), Meena’s collection, has a fascinating and thought-provoking ‘Foreword’ by Kamala Das where the senior poetess acknowledges the ‘superiority’ of Meena Kandasmy’s ‘poetic vision’; a journey towards her identity creation. Meena follows the tradition of Gwendolyn Brooks, Sylvia Plath and Langston Hughes a ‘fabric rare and strange’. Her poetic self gasps in darkness to search for her emotional root proclaiming it as, sap is her heritage. Sap is liquid in a plant that carries food to all its parts. It is a source of vitality for the poetess to voyage within. Meena Kandasamy regards her poetic corpus as a process of coming to terms with her identity and consciousness: her ‘womanness, Tamilness and low/outcasteness’, labels that she wears with pride. Meena has honed her sociological awareness of what it means to be a woman in a caste-ridden social group-ism in Tamil Nadu (a southern state in India). Women’s fixed role as caregivers was ideologically determined by their biological capacity to bear children and that was through a fixed set of codes represented by ‘categorizers over the ages’. Dalit literature is full of the metaphors and imagery of darkness, dirt, filth, violence and emancipation. Dalit women writers have interrogated that stereotype with a set of alternatives.

Why do we need a separate category of feminism? General feminist theories explore facts and proposition relating to emancipation of women, sexual and economic freedom, women bodies, equal rights, etc. Dalit women are twice cursed, as women and as dalit by birth. Sharmila Rege, an Indian Sociologist and feminist scholar, in her book Dalit Women Talk Differently has narrated several incidents with contexts. She was the leading scholar in India who worked on ‘Dalit Standpoint Perspective’ which opens up debates on feminist perspectives related to caste identity. Dalit feminism is an extension of metropolitan feminism in India. Dalit cases the police negates by intimidation, refusing to file complains. Feminist theory in the West cannot cover the uniqueness of dalit women’s plea for survival in Indian context. Ignored by the mainstream feminism. Dalit feminism started as a separate branch of feminism in 1990s. Several websites dealing with dalit women’s issues gave impetus to the movement. Dalit Women Caucus (DWC) and Savari are two important examples of such websites. These websites take up the issues of bahujan and dalit women. There must be a hope for an egalitarian society where there will be no place for hatred, casteism, gender exploitation, discrimination and slavery. People will be treated equally. No one will be given high status or low status and all will live with brotherly love. As literature has always served as a medium in bringing change in socio-political scenario, so dalit women’s literature does provide a platform to oppressed people to stand against the social problems like poverty, religious fanaticism and untouchability, and gender exploitation. Feminism is a political movement dealing with the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. Similarly, dalit feminism is a socio-political movement that propagates the equal status of dalit women on the basis of the equality of sexes and birth of a family belonging to caste in India. Thus, dalit progressive women have evolved a separate code for defining their dignity, integrity and identity in Indian social milieu.

With the ideological ascendancy the notion of ‘biology is destiny’ has become a myth with current perspectives. Women’s search for the self is invariably engaged in resistance to prevailing notions of women’s ‘nature’. Women’s fixed role as caregivers was ideologically determined by their biological capacity to bear children and that was through a fixed set of codes represented by ‘categorizers’. Dalit feminist writers (and activists) in India do have deep-seated faith in the wheel of justice, which may have got stuck for a while leading to the oppression of the powerless, but will turn to re-establish a just society.