Women In The Grip Of Change

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Sivakami is one of the earliest Tamil Dalit writers who draw attention to the dual oppression of Dalit women on account of gender and caste at the hands of upper caste men and Dalit men. She was initially an IAS officer, but gave up her job to become a full time writer in 2008. Her first book, “The Grip of Change”, translated in 2009 is based on patriarchy in Dalit society. Dalit patriarchy is an important subject of concern in Tamil Dalit literature. Sivagami’s novel prepared the ground for a sustained critique of domestic violence and abuse of Dalit women. Dalit women face sexual and occupational harassment at the hands of upper caste men and also by their own community men. This paper entitled DUAL OPPRESSION IN THE NOVELS …show more content…

Dalit writers do not look upon widows, prostitutes, depraved women, as Dalit, the exploited, with compassion alone; but they make them towards radiance. In the stories and novels of Annabhau, Shankar Rao Kharat, Baburao Bagul and others, though the nature of the struggle of woman in the beginning is individual, later it becomes class conflict… As a consequence of this, Dalit female characters end the journey of deep darkness and behold dreams of sunrise… They fight for truth and for themselves.They revolt to protect their self- respect… The revolt of Dalit women is not person-centered but society-centered… That is why Dalit writers do not portray Dalit women as hollow identities, overflowing with love as embodiments of sacrifice (Prasad 46). Unlike Dalit men, only a few Dalit women have written their autobiographies, their narratives of pain. Most of them write in regional languages and they have hardly been translated into English. The position of Dalit women is as marginalized in Dalit literature as they are in their community. Education gives them the chance to narrate their voices of distress, and sorrows in their autobiographical writings. The contribution of Dalit women writers to Dalit Literature is significant and Sivagami is one among them who always focuses the plight of Dalit women

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