Going Beyond Protest and Revolt: Literary Merits of Outcaste: A Memoir

Abstract

Dalit autobiographies have been written by marginalized people belonging to the grass roots of the Indian society. They are at the lowest rung of the Indian social hierarchy. Narendra Jadhav's Outcaste: A Memoir is one of the most well known and, widely translated Dalit autobiography. It is a testament of Ambedkarite movement in Maharashtra and a socio-cultural-historical document of Dalit protest, revolt, acceptance, rejection and Dalit consciousness. Many research papers have been written highlighting the poverty, hunger, exploitation, discrimination, violation of human rights, atrocities and physical violence endured by the protagonist and his family members and how the protagonist protested and revolted against it seeking human status and equality in the society. Yet this Dalit autobiography has never been analyzed as a literary text. This paper is a humble effort to enlist, analyze and showcase the literary and aesthetic merits of the oeuvre.