Echoes of ‘Untouchable Lives’: A Study on Bama’s Sangati as a Dalit Feminist Narrative

Abstract

Literature is as old as human language.  It has the power to transcend the boundaries across the world, thereby sharing all kinds of human experiences.  Seen as a reflection of the society and the people residing in it, literature mirrors the lives of those who are marginalized as well as secluded from the mainstream society.  And when it comes in the Indian context, it is the Dalit community becomes the utmost victims of the traumas of marginalization. As a part of the literature of the marginalized , Dalit literature enabled the articulation of the growing aspirations of Dalits in a new language. This paper is an attempt to analyse the rigid caste barriers existing in the Indian society and also examines how literature has emerged as an iconic tool in sharing the hopes and aspirations of Dalits, previously branded as ‘the untouchables. This paper also examines how Tamil Dalit Feminist writer Bama’s novel Sangati becomes an epitome of Dalit feminist narrative.