Nayonika Sen Week 5

Reflections on Articles on Dalit Autobigraphies and Memoirs

Pain is a recurring constant in almost all Dalit stories and narratives. Pain, humiliation, anger, and to a certain degree helplessness seem to some of the key features of Dalit autobiographies. There is always a degree of separation when someone else tells your story. It is unable to capture the vivid details of turmoil and feelings. Hence, Dalit autobiographies become an important medium of self-expression; to understand the degree of pain embedded in their lives. Dalit literacy is new. It is only in the 1970s and 80s that Dalit stories began to be told. The historical inaccess to literature and knowledge denied Dalits the tools to record their lives of injustice. 

Unlike other autobiographies that are quite self-glorifying, there are hardly elements of victory or pride. They are recounted stories of discrimination, both subtle and discernable. From these stories, it also becomes evident how social positioning becomes so intrinsic to determination of self-worth. Even among Dalits, castes and sub-castes tend to find solace in the fact that some Dalits are higher up the social pyramid than others, although all face humiliation and discrimination from the upper-castes. It only exposes the vulnerability of Dalits and their internalisation of the Brahmanical order that they aim to break out of. The names given to the Dalit community, as the Manu recommends are based on their assumed ‘flawed’ characteristics; such as ‘Bhangi’ derives from the word ‘Bhang’ which means broken. When your name and your existence is reduced to a ‘flaw’, how ever does one force their way out of this structural violence of name, shame, and dishonour?

Nayonika Sen