Dalit Women Write Differently

Abstract

The paper will employ textual analysis to study Hira Bansode’s “Sanskirti” and Jyoti Lanjewar’s “Mother”. The works are interrogated by employing Sharankmar Limbale’s “Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature”. The poets turn to the archetype of the mother to envision Dalit feminist politics. While Bansode revolts against the ‘Great culture of this land’- Mother India for being an evil stepmother who abandoned the Dalit community, Lanjwar turns to her memories of her mother who lead a life of struggle and resistance. The figure of the mother, an abhorrent representation of Brahminical patriarchy in Sanskriti is rejected and abused. On the other hand, Lanjewar’s testimony seeks to reclaim the margins that the masculinist logic of Dalit politics in Maharashtra often turned away from.  It is argued that the works offer a significant interjection for intersectional feminist politics.