Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Hindi Dalit literature has been produced for over a century but is yet to be acknowledged by a larger mainstream audience. In this article, it is examined how generations of Dalit women lived. Experience of Hindi Dalit literature was constructed by several social, political, ideological and economic factors that together obscured the cultural identity of Dalit women. Using narrative text Dohra Abhishaap, an autobiography and testimonio in nature, written by Kausalya Baisantri, Hindi Dalit author as an entry point, this essay analyses the explicit and implicit mechanisms of Dalit women oppression that have averted Dalit women writers from consolidating their distinct identity. This article examines critically on the discourse regarding the subaltern’s failure to speak and/or be heard, and reflects Hindi Dalit literature’s triumph over casteist struggles to relegate it to the periphery. I argue that Dalit autobiographies/testimonio are indeed a medium towards change and development to represent the ‘silenced voices’.