Malavika Prasanna - Week 4


Reading Title: Karukku by Bama
Submission Number: 3/10
Karukku is the autobiography of Bama, a Dalit woman who hails from the state of Tamil Nadu. Through the course of the book, Bama captures her lived experience of discrimination in her Convent School, in recreational spaces and in and her daily life. The axis of discrimination faced by the protagonist is worthy of examination as it is at the intersection of several distinct identities, namely that of her being a woman, a person of a lower class, a Dalit and a Roman Catholic.
The significance of the book to Tamil Literature is also visible in that it caused a rupture in the field by being one of the first Dalit autobiographies. The essence of autobiographies from marginalized communities is captured by the piece titled “Invisibility of Other Dalits” by Sumit Baudh. Baudh argues that situated knowledge of Dalits is to be acknowledged through personalized experiences which are reflected in autobiographies. Situated knowledge starts from individual isolated experiences, and later acquires the character of a shared community experience.

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