Dalit Literature(s): Pedagogy and its Challenges

Abstract

Reflections on Dalit Literature and Its Language of Expression

It is fortunate or unfortunate that most of the Dalit literature is written in regional languages. These literatures, like Indian Literatures, New Literatures in English, and Post-Colonial Literatures, are now available in the global language such as English so that a wide audience can read and understand the problems of suppressed, oppressed, and marginalized castes belonging to Scheduled Castes as notified by the Indian Constitution.

I would consider only the Scheduled Castes as Dalits by differing with the large, multiple communities, theories, and people’s definition of the term ‘Dalit’. The people and organizations with whom I differ in defining Dalit as the above—such as the Dalit Panther movement and Kancha Ilaiah’s concept of ‘Dalit Bahujan’—are the examples to mention only two.

References

1. Manohar, D. Murali. “Literature and Agency: Literature As a Core/Compulsory Course in English.” Humanities Circle: International Journal of Central University of Kerala, vol. 2, no. 2, July 2014, pp. 183–190. (ISSN 2321-8010)


2. Sireesha, Telugu, ed. Dalit Literature: A Pedagogic Discourse (In Honour of Prof. M. Sridhar). New Delhi: Serials, 2016. (ISBN 978-81-8387-775-6)


3. “Telugu Dalit Literature in Translation: A Survey.” Middleflight, vol. 8, no. 1, Nov. 2019, pp. 79–85. (ISSN 2319-7684)