Rohit explores the evolution of Dalit literature and its role in challenging societal hierarchies on DifferentTruths.com.

“Dalits enable the purity of the upper-caste society and become impure in the process.”

A short quote from Limbale’s ‘Towards an Aesthetics of Dalit Literature’ says a lot about the marginalised other, a term closely associated with Dalit identity. A subaltern group whose primary task involves cooking, cleaning, serving and existing for its dominant counterparts; theirs is an existence that lingers around the periphery of a dichotomy, that functions within the binaries of pure/impure, dominant/subordinate, and upper-caste/lower-caste. Now, this hierarchical dichotomy finds its origin in the Vedic period, when the Brahminical decree of separating society into the Varna system took its shape.

The mediaeval period thus saw the proliferation of caste hierarchy operating through occupation, land relations, religious authority, and social exclusion. Gradually, as the country entered the mid-seventeenth century, a shift occurred when Indian society began to be organised and ruled by the British. With English schools, industrial capitalism and the rise of a working class creating a new Western reality of a modern and developed India, it also softened the dynamics of caste (or diverted the attention from it).

Caste-Based Discrimination

However, the contradictory result of colonial rule saw the prevalence of caste-based discrimination in new and altered forms, as it became increasingly formalised with intensive documentation, and gradually tied to politics. However, what was unexpected was also the use of the new intellectual and political resources to elevate the identity of what it actually meant to be a Dalit. It was particularly Ambedkar’s and Phule’s writings about Dalit struggles, coupled with their own lived experience, that ushered in a change, which proved extremely valuable for the community.

The reception of these works, both inside and outside the country, further inspired a group of Indian writers such as Arjun Dhangle, JP Pawar, Baby Kamble, Namdeo Dhasal, et al. Their own individual experiences coupled with the extensive use of language gave rise to a host of textual formats such as novels, discourse, poems, autobiographies & short stories, all representing the Dalit community.

Now, in contemporary times, where a steady circulation of works representing and dispersing Dalit identity has found its significant space, there still hasn’t been a slowing down of caste-based segregation rampant within the country. Amidst a modern outlook that centres itself around inclusivity, egalitarianism and sensitivity, the Dalit identity still manages to find itself relegated to a subordinate position.

Dalit Literature

So, how come the predecessor’s approach of creating a separate body of literary work depicting Dalit literature, despite its overarching benefits, still hasn’t been able to erase the traces of caste-based vulnerabilities?

Although the emergence of Dalit literature has challenged dominant representations and created spaces for self-representation of the other, a broader diction is required to truly dismantle the structural, institutional and cultural conditions through which caste inequality is reproduced. What’s required is a broader change in one’s understanding of the self in relation to the environment – essentially, a shift in social consciousness towards perceiving Dalit identity.  

And it is in one such literary diction, particularly Sharana Kumar Limbale’s ‘Towards an Aesthetics of Dalit Literature’, that readers are provided with a facet to reaffirm their belief about Dalit identity. Limbale’s work is seminal in bringing forth the idea of aesthetics towards decoding Dalit identity. Now, aesthetics is often associated with the pleasing, the proportionate, the balanced, the coherent and the beautiful. Such understandings of aesthetics are often shaped by the everyday realities of individuals, particularly those situated within a dominant socio-cultural environment, and a steady stream of literary, visual and cultural texts, moulding their perspectives.

The Denial of Dignity

It is only for a few whose perception of reality is not aesthetic in the manner seen and witnessed by the majority; something which is not beautiful is disproportionate, uncomfortable, demoralising, and gory. And this is the reality experienced by the marginalised groups of Dalits, who are marked not by balance or harmony, but by humiliation, exclusion, poverty, violence, and the denial of dignity.

Hence, in this context, Limbale’s work can be considered a valuable addition to perceiving Dalit identity. His work functions as a harness for readers, keeping them fastened to the difficult realities of poverty, exclusion, and humiliation instead of a comfortable retreat to their idealised understandings of society. His work brings the reader into contact with the lived realities of caste and compels an engagement with the narrative, which dominant aesthetics may attempt to conceal.

A Larger Consciousness

Published in 2004 in Marathi and translated into multiple languages, Limbale’s work therefore attempts to connect a larger consciousness towards an issue that has been plaguing the country for centuries. This is an approach, a subversive move, which explodes the binary and exposes the inner contradiction it conceals. It acts as a manner of defamiliarising the reader, where a dominant reader might be provided with a facet for renegotiating their identity with the world, and a subordinate (Dalit) reader might reaffirm their indigenous identity, rooted in heritage and consciousness.

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Rohit Pathak

Rohit Pathak is a postgraduate student of English at Christ University, Bangalore. Specialising in the humanities for nearly fifteen years, he regards English as both an intellectual enabler and a core part of his identity. His interests span reading across genres, writing, research, communication, and contemporary cultural and social issues. Through writing and research, he seeks a deeper understanding of literature and society while continually expanding his knowledge as a student and budding writer.

understanding of literature and society while continually expanding his knowledge as a student and budding writer.