Representations of Dalit Protagonists

This book interrogates canonical Indian English fiction which has Dalit characters as protagonists or major characters, and argues that the representation of such characters, although well-meant, is regulated and made unremarkable. It examines how the normative discourse of the Anglophone novel portrays Dalits from an upper-caste point of view, devoid of Ambedkarite or Dalit consciousness, and thus implicitly reinscribes the upper caste power by restricting the narrative to merely represent Dalit submission and victimhood. The arguments then are substantiated by setting up a comparative framework through contrastive analysis of selected narratives by Dalit writers from Marathi Dalit literature to highlight the differential representational paradigms that mark the absence or presence of Ambedkarite consciousness and perspective.

Hanumant Ajinath Lokhande is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Nowrosjee Wadia College (Autonomous), Pune, India. His research interests are in the fields of Indian and comparative literatures, Dalit and Postcolonial studies, and Indian films.