TRANSGRESSING CASTE, GENDER AND RELIGION AS BARRIERS: DALIT FEMINIST STANDPOINT IN BAMA’S KARUKKU

Abstract

Abstract: Dalit literature vociferously proclaims that indigence and deprived social status, both inside and outside Hinduism, have led to the triple marginalization of Dalit women. Even religious conversions have not been able to unleash them from the stigma of descent and gender discrimination. Trapped in the vicious vortex of caste, male hegemony and religion, myriad female Dalit writers tend to reveal the practice of domination and oppression against Dalit women and their objectification. Amongst such oeuvres, Bama’s Karukku surpasses the victim-agent binary and emphasises on the awakening of Dalit women’s consciousness to transgress the barriers of untouchability and gender oppression. The autobiography suggests remedies for the unresolved social and economic complexities that exist in the Dalit women’s lives. The paper examines a new Dalit feminist standpoint in Bama’s Karukku that overcomes caste, gender and religion barriers through the process of self-reflection.