The Sweet Taste of Failure

Hello,

Over the past few days I have been thinking of putting up all those things that didn't work for me, I shall do that gradually. Here is the abstract of my failed presentation for the AK Ramanujan National Paper Reading 2012, I find this failure sweet because it opened a new possibility, a new discourse. Its surprising that I wasn't aware of the gravity of casteism and its evil repercussions on individuals, until I turned 23. However, reading about Dalits and their marginalized history, I got to know about the complex role of caste bias in our society.

Representations of Equality in Post 1990s Dalit Writing

Abstract

Dalit writing is the representation of the oppression faced by the Dalits in both the rural and urban setting in India. Post colonization, India was gripped in yet another battle of power and dominancy, this however was an internal issue. Dalit Literature is precisely the writings about Dalits. Over the time the word Dalit has become synonymous to the oppressed. Dalit as a term was used for the first time as a Hindi and Marathi term for the English – “Depressed Class”. In the 1970s, Dalit became a broad term, including all those who were; poor peasants, scheduled tribes, and were being politically exploited. The speeches and writings of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar bring forth a rebellion, which lead to the articulation of Dalit experiences across the country. This rebellion even influenced those who were not akin to the political philosophy of Ambedkar. One needs to understand the caste system in India to understand Dalit literature in the true sense.

Dalit Writings post 1990s

One of the notable events of this decade is the Akhil Bharatiya Ambedkari Sahitya Sammelan, initiated by Ambedkari Sahitya Parishad, with the motive to reform the Dalit Literature under the name – Ambedkari Sahitya. Also the other important event that took place was the infamous post-Mandal Commission riots. The Dalit writings in the 90’s have evolved from a mere narrative of racial segregation and injustice to a discipline of academic study.

Dalits and Equality

Dalit writings had a social cause of defending human values, as it articulates the years long struggle for justice a and a social standing sans the racial prejudice. These characteristic features of the Dalit writings have made it similar to the historical Afro-American struggle and slave narratives. Although the Indian Constitution has abolished discrimination based on caste, however practices of prejudice and discrimination against Dalits in India still exist. Dalits and equality is a much debated topic and hence has been the focal point of many Dalit writings.

Proposal for the presentation:-

·         The emergence of Dalit literature

·         Dalits and Equality

·         Dalit writings(post 1990’s) as a medium to curb discrimination

·         Dalit Writings today

Materials:-

Ø  Hinduism – A Very Short Introduction – Kim Knott

Ø  Why I Am Not A Hindu – Kancha Ilaiah

Ø  Touchable Tales- Publishing and Reading Dalit Literature – Edited by S. Anand

Ø  http://www.ambedkar.org/

Ø  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit

Ø  http://arvindnawale.blogspot.com/2011/12/literary-interview-of-sharankumar.html