Critical Study of Select Dalit Women Autobiographies

A Research Proposal
Submitted for
The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
In English

by
Ms. Bhavna Sonvane

Veer Narmad south Gujarat University,

Surat, Gujarat
Introduction :-

Autobiography is widely admired in the world as a literary genre.

Autobiography brings personal account of life in public domain. Autobiography is

a Western tradition where people enjoy celebrating them self and are eager to

prove their achievements. Indians have adopted this tradition of writing.

Autobiography can be classified into two categories life stories that

inspire and prove one’s achievements. They have portrayed the socio economic,

cultural and political conditions of Dalit community under the control and

influence of upper class Hindu society. Contemporary Indian society was divided

under the wrong notions of ‘purity and pollution’. Dalit were treated as

untouchable and polluters to the high caste Hindus because they were born in the

low caste. They were intentionally kept ignorant and denied to take education and

asked to live out of town in separate colonies by high caste Hindus to safeguard

their control over Dalits.

Autobiography came handy to them to demonstrate their old age

suffering, exploitation , and their suffering. Female Dalit writers like Shantabai

Kamble,Urmila Pawar,Babytai Kamble , Kumud Pawade,Bama demonstrated their

life stories and experiences of trivial exploitation based on caste,class,and

gender.These Dalit women writers’ narratives centre their lived experiences in a

canon where their voices have been conspicuously absent. Dalit women’s voices
 have been inadequately represented or sometimes completely erased from the

literary canon. Other times, Dalit women have been represented in romanticized

narratives, without a real examination of their marginalized position in the

hierarchy of caste and gender

This study claims that Dalit women writers have a potent standpoint as

an ‘outsider within,’ and argues that their triply oppressed caste, class, and gender

identity allows for diverse perspectives that appraise one another and helps readers

gain an understanding of their condition as women and Dalit subjects. Thus, Dalit

women create this new knowledge that subverts dominant androcentric knowledge

construction. This study marks an awakening of consciousness, an approach to

social change.

Significance of the proposed research work:-

 This proposed research will examine in depth view of Dalit women writer’s

struggle and they faced triple discrimination by colonial rulers, by upper class

people and by their own Dalit men.

 It will examine their autobiographies with a purpose to explore their ideas and

ideology regarding Dalit women exploitation.

 This proposed study will explore the voice of resistance and strategies of

resistance against the exploitation of Dalit women.

 It will expose the exploitative policies of the colonial rulers, and upper caste

people exploited Dalit women socially, psychologically, economically.

 It will expand the space of Dalit literature gives to sentiments of the Dalit and

calls for justice.

Review of literature:-

Dalit women’s Autobiographies: Convergence and Divergences by Dr.

Bijender Singh.It will analyse reformulates and envisages Dalit women's struggle

against caste, class and gender- based oppression through some select Dalit

women's autobiographies, memoirs and personal narratives. These autobiographies

are the auguries of a new era vehemently focusing on women empowerment

Shantabai Kamble explores brutality of caste discrimination in her experience, she

recalls her childhood memories about poverty and suffering in her family because

of her caste.

We Also Made History – Women in the Ambedkarite Movement a

popular book edited by Meenakshi Moon and Urmila Pawar . This book depicts

social condition of Dalit women’s lives, religious practices and marital rules, the

practice of ritual prostitution and women's issue.

Sharmila Rege’s Writing Caste Writing Gender: Narrating Dalit Women's

Testimonios articulate caste and Dalit patriarchy through various testimonials

 written by women from scheduled social groups. This Present proposed research

attempts to highlight humiliating memory of caste and gender discrimination issues

in autobiography of the Dalit women.

Objectives of proposed research work:-

 Focus on Dalit women’s autobiography of Babytai Kamble, shantabai Kamble

,Urmila Pawar and analyse the social condition of Dalit women.

 To analyze their autobiography is with a purpose to find out their pain and

suffering they are subjected to extreme forms of social economical, physical

,mental torture and exploitation in patriotic society in India .

 To create awareness of the tournaments faced by the Dalit women.

 Analyze the social condition of Dalit women in India and point out the present

status.

 To highlight humility memories of caste and gender discrimination issues in

autobiographies of Dalit women

Research methodology:-

The select primary data of authors having taken up for the study it is analyze

through the descriptive modes. The propose work does not require any filled work.

Dalit women autobiographers namely Shantabai kamble Urmila Pawar Bama will
be used as a primary source and reference books,articles, magazines ,research

paper etc will be used as a secondary source.

Hypothesis:-

This research will explore autobiography of Dalit Women namely

shantabai Kamli Urmila Pawar.Their autobiographies analyse to examine pain and

suffering of Dalit women in patriotic society in India full stop morever their

dreams expectations, and ideas for freedom, its overall that Outbrust of the

burning flame of exploited Dalit women from many centuries the suppressed

anger errupts through self narratives of Dalit literature.

Scope of the propose research work:-

For the proposed research work the autobiographies written by Shantabai

Kamble Urmila Pawar and Bama will be critiqued for in depth study.They will be

examined in present context.

Research Plan:-

Chapter 1:- Introdcution:-

The introductory chapter will analyze biography by the Dalit woman. It

will analyze multi discrimination by colonial rulers by upper class people and by

their own Dalit men. Chapter will divided into four sections. In the introduction I
explore the Development of caste system and its chromatic effects on the leaves

and use literary trauma theory to highlight some key reasons that Dalit

autobiography can be considered as strong literature. Second chapter will be the

women’s autobiography reflect and discuss various social political cultural issues

about the Dalit community. Autobiography of Baby Kamble present the existing

representation of mahar Life in the past 50 years living in western Maharashtra in

the third section. Bluntly illustrate her anger towards the chaturvarna system of

Hindus as well as against the Patriarchal order predominant among Mahar’s which

give a lower status to their women. The fourth section will Briefly analyze

autobiography of shantabai kamble autobiography of shantabai kamble highlights

humiliating memory of caste and gender discrimination issues.

Chapter-2:- Analyzing Autobiography of Babytai Kamble:-

The second chapter will analyze autobiography of Baby Kamble ‘jina

amucha’ original in Marathi translated by Maya Pandit ‘prison we broke' gives a

sad of evidence for the casteism in India. Kamble presence an unflinching portrait

of Dalit women, subjugated triply by gender, caste and patriarchy. Baby kamble

depicted in her autobiography the Mahar woman was breathless and most

miserable. She also narrates that Dalit women was always treated at sexual object

and was made available to upper customer whenever they had a sexual urge.
Kamble had expose the hypocritical mental makeup of the upper caste sections of

Indian society. The book realistically and painfully catches the journey of mahar

community from Pre-Ambedkar area to its rapid transformation through education

at mass conversation.

Chapter-3:- Analysing shantabai Kamble’s ‘Majya Jalmachi

Chittarkatha’:-

Third chapter will analyze autobiography of Santa by ‘Majya Jalmachi

Chittarkatha’ considered the first autobiographical narrative by Dalit women.

Autobiography highlights humilating memories of caste and gender discrimination

issue. Shantabai rights about the early memories of an incident of caste base

humiliation that disturb her innocence psyche. Shantabai explorer the brutality of

caste discrimination in her experience, she recalls her childhood memories about

poverty and suffering in her family only because of her caste. In short

autobiography of shantabai kamble depicts individual achievement for the

inspiration for readers but it sociography that account social reality it is a saga of

Dalit women to March towards human emancipation in the light of right human

liberation ideology of social equality and dignity of human life.

 Conclusion:-
The concluding chapter will analyze the autobiography of great Dalit

women writers .It will explore how Dalit women had to Suffer domestic violence

in the form of threshing, physical torture, mental torture. They faced triple

discrimination by colonial rulers by upper class people and by their own Dalit men.

The above mention autobiographies presenting the factual and very Pitiable

condition of Dalit women that they were victims of their caste system. They had

suffer because of their birth because of their caste and because of the gender and

because of their poverty. Autobiographies of Dalit women presents multiple layers

of their suffering. The autobiography of Dalit women is not near the story of an

individual achievements for the inspiration for readers but it is a sociography that

account social reality. It is a saga of Dalit women to March towards human

emancipation in the light of Phule- Ambedkar human liberation ideology of social

equality and dignity of human life.

Bibliography:-
Primary sources:-

 Kamble shantabai majya janmmachi chitrakatha (Marathi),sugva prakashan

Pune1998, print.
 Rege sharmila, Writing Caste Writing Gender: Narrating Dalit Women’s

Testimonios, Zuban publication, New Delhi , 2006 Print.

 Babytai Kamble; Jina amucha (Marathi),The prison we broke’translation by Maya

pandit New Delhi:Orient Blackswan.

 Bama,karukku Trans.Laxmi Holmstrom 2nd edition, New Delhi, Oxford printing

press,2012.

 Bama, karukku Trans,Laxmi Holmstrom Macmillan India limited, Chennai.

 Guru G(2009) Afterword. In the kamble B,The prison we broke.New Delhi Orient

Blackswan 158-170.

 Zelliot Eleanor (1992) “from untouchable to Dalit:An Essay on the Ambedkar

movement”manohar publication, New Delhi.

Secondary sources:-

 Urmila pawar, Meenakshi Moon:We are made history,women in the Ambedkarite

movement Zubaan pp.New Delhi.
 Indian Dalit literature: Critical Ruminatons by Dr S Chelliah and Dr Bijender
Singh
 The village and the city: Dalit feminism in the autobiographies of Baby Kamble
and Urmila Pawar,The Journal of Commonwealth Literature.
 Gender discrimination in Shantabai Kamble’s autobiography of kaledioscopic
story of Life:An international journal of contemporary studies.
 Dalit Literature in India: by K. Kavitha,Indian Journa
 Exploring the Dalit Self: by Ritu Singh International Journal of Advancement in
Social Science and Humanity.
 Dalit Feminism and Dalit Women Narratives: An Anthology of critical Essays: Dr.
Abhisarika Prajapati.