Giving Voice to the Unvoiced: The Rise of Indian Dalit Literature

<p>The word "Dalit" connotes people who are impoverished, oppressed, abused, and in<br>need. The origin of the Indian caste system is not a widely accepted theory. Several<br>forms of inequality give rise to social prejudice in every civilized community.<br>Additionally, it is dressed in "Casteism" in India. The subaltern literary voices of the<br>tribals, Dalits, and other minority groups were absent from discourses tailored to the<br>tastes of the nobility. The Dalits are denied their fundamental rights to equality,<br>property ownership, and education. Dalit literature thus arises as a voice for all those<br>marginalized, oppressed, and exploited populations who have long suffered from<br>societal injustice and exploitation. The liberation of Dalits from this never-ending<br>slavery is the central theme of Dalit literature. Dalit experiences and expressions are<br>positing the history in quotidian. Though they may appear alien and anathema to the<br>"upper" caste sensibility, they can be read as embodying the political in all its<br>dimensions. Since Dalit literature is based on ideas of equality, liberty, justice, and<br>solidarity rather than pleasure, Dalit critics need to find a new imagery of "beauty and<br>truth" that is more responsive to contemporary lived realities. Otherwise, Dalit<br>literature will forever be condemned for its lack of merits and taste within the<br>overarching framework of traditional aesthetics. The Dalit writers' rejection of the<br>hegemony of caste-based universalism challenges the neat binary world of<br>postcolonial literary theory and calls attention to the internal contradictions of Indian<br>society.</p>