Pavitra Naidu- Week 6

Dalit - New Cultural Context for an Old Marathi Word

Dalit Movement in India is most often compared with the American Black Panthers and Black literature to draw necessary comparisons in a global context. Much like the word Black, Dalit was also chosen by the group itself and this allows them to embrace the connotations of the word wholeheartedly and represent their pride. 

The book also talks about experience of Dalit poets and how they draw from their own experiences and present a nuanced imagery which is often lacking from other poems and stories written on them. Example of Dhasal is presented who wrote about conventional Marathi poetry whereas many other deviated to present what was referred to as unsophisticated poetry of folk- poet. Poets like Pawar have written about their childhood experiences describing dalit cultural practices.   

A lot of Dalit poets also exhibited huge amount of influence fro the Black culture in America. Daya Pawar's poem titled ' Harlem' is an example of who they included Black literature references in their work. The Dalit writers also referred to fairly recent events in history of Dalits and included Buddhist references after the conversion of Ambedkar to Buddhism.