Portrayal of Dalit Women in Baby Kamble

Literature & Aesthetics, 2024

This research delves into the repercussions of colonialism on women's health and caste dynamics in India, focusing on Dalit women's experiences within the penitentiary system, as depicted in Baby Kamble's memoir The Prisons We Broke. Applying an intersectional approach and critical health theory, the study seeks to examine the interplay between caste, gender, and additional factors such as the socioeconomic background in shaping the health and well-being of incarcerated Dalit women. The literature discussed highlights the repulsive conditions and scarcity of resources these women encountered during pregnancy and other feminine health conditions. By probing the intersections of caste, gender, and socioeconomic determinants within the prison environment, this article amplifies the often-muted voices of Dalit women. Through a meticulous analysis of Kamble's literary work, we contribute to the appreciation of the resilient human spirit. It advocates for a more equitable society encompassing both men and women.

American Research Journal of English and Literature, 2017

Dalit Literature represents a powerful, emerging movement in the Indian literary traditionand its reverberations are now being heard all around the world. One more addition to the Dalit literature is Baby Kamble's autobiography The Prisons We Broke which portrays the socio-economical, cultural and political conditions of Dalit community in Indian society. It highlights the plight of Dalit women who receive inhuman treatment and suffer at every front. In Indian society women are always subjected to a subaltern state and are marginalized. Women face subjugation in various forms everywhere in India, traditional taboos legitimize their exploitation. For Dalit women, the situation is even worse, as they suffer from the triple oppression becauseof their gender, economical condition and their low caste. This paper is an attempt to deliberate on the harsh realities of struggle, subjugation and suffering of Dalit women as depicted in The Prisons We Broke. As we know Dalit women are positioned at the lowest rung of the social hierarchy they are subjected to inhumane living conditions, violence and discrimination which deprive them of opportunities, choices and freedoms in all sphere of their life.

Dalit feminism emerged as a response to mainstream Indian feminism, which tended to downplay caste related issues. Dalit feminism studies not only the patriarchal oppression of Dalit women at the hands of upper-caste men but also from the members within their own caste. Baby Kamble grapples with this issue as a writer as well as an activist. This paper attempts to study the intersectional impact of caste, gender and class in her work The Prisons We Broke using the Dalit feminist theoretical approach. It attempts to analyse the textual representation of Dalit women's predicament not only through the portrayal of the interlinked complexity of caste, gender and classbased oppressions but also through the intersection and overlapping of these realities within the autobiographical rubric of writing. In her seminal work, Baby Kamble exposes the deprivation of Dalits and the struggles and oppression of Dalit women. Kamble seems to immerse or place herself within the community but does not leave out the complexity of identity for a Dalit woman. Her autobiography thus disrupts the standard concepts of autobiography that place individual at the centre. As opposed to the existing gap among mainstream feminist movement, there seems to be a scope to reshape feminist solidarity among the Dalit feminist scholarship. This paper builds upon the major concerns shared by Dalit feminists within the social structures that assert the subjugation of Dalit women using the lens of caste and gender. It further attempts to extend the theoretical scope and applicability of Dalit feminism by exploring the conceptual specificity of the social reproduction of the social location-based knowledge of Dalit women's predicament.

2017

It was in Maharashtra that the movement of Dalit literature first gained ground. In the 1960s, socio-political upheavals, spread of education, democratic values and enlightenment particularly influenced the Dalits of Maharashtra, where most Dalit writers are the followers of Dr. Ambedkar (Bhongle 158). While initial Dalit writings came in the form of fiction and poetry, the more recent forms have shifted to autobiography. The autobiographical forms became more popular because "an individual"s story becomes significant in the exploration of group identity" (Deo and Zelliot 43). Baby Kamble"s Jina Amucha (1986), translated as The Prisons We Broke was the first ever successful attempt of a Mahar woman to write her experiences as an autobiography. The book narrates the everyday struggles in the life of the author which come to represent the collective voice of the Mahar women community. Kamble brings forth a number of problems that plague the lives of the Mahars, par...

The present paper aims to focus on various forms of oppression and resistance to it by Dalit Women by making a close analysis of the autobiographies and literary works written by or on Dalit women. Division of society in the community is not restricted to caste division, also exist in gender equalities. Dalit women experience a different degree of oppression from both upper caste Hindu and Dalit men where Dalit Women are still biased by being women, poor and Dalit. The significance of this paper is in that it tries to highlight the powerfulness and celebrate the resistance of the women against multiple power discourses which attempt to govern and rule them.

The Literary Herald, 2017

It was in Maharashtra that the movement of Dalit literature first gained ground. In the 1960s, socio-political upheavals, spread of education, democratic values and enlightenment particularly influenced the Dalits of Maharashtra, where most Dalit writers are the followers of Dr. Ambedkar (Bhongle 158). While initial Dalit writings came in the form of fiction and poetry, the more recent forms have shifted to autobiography. The autobiographical forms became more popular because "an individual"s story becomes significant in the exploration of group identity" (Deo and Zelliot 43). Baby Kamble"s Jina Amucha (1986), translated as The Prisons We Broke was the first ever successful attempt of a Mahar woman to write her experiences as an autobiography. The book narrates the everyday struggles in the life of the author which come to represent the collective voice of the Mahar women community. Kamble brings forth a number of problems that plague the lives of the Mahars, par...

IJCIRAS, 2019

The paper centers on Baby Kamble's The Prison We Broke, probably the first autobiography by a Dalit woman, not only in Marathi but in any Indian language. It throws light into the lives of Mahar community , especially Dalit women; the victims of double disadvantages of caste and gender. The very stale customs and practices of the Mahar community gave them nothing, but utter humiliation and tortures throughout their lives. Kamble realises that education is the only resort and solution for their problems. The community is totally ignorant and unaware about their right to live as " human beings ". To claim their rights, to live as normal human beings, it is mandatory to get educated. Like the great Ambedkar, Kamble tries to spread the value of education among the Mahar community. She firmly believes that it is the best way to come out of the 'age old poisoned bread'. The upper caste people made Dalits as their slaves, it is ironical to note that, animals are given better treatment than the Dalits. The ignorant community blindly swallowed the words of upper caste people.

International journal of health sciences

This Research Paper first evaluates the twin concepts of Gender and Race from multiple perspectives, particularly in the Indian context. Subsequently, it critiques the rendition of these concepts in the lives and works of Jyotiba Phule, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Periyar E.V. Ramasamy and their relentless attempts in forging Gender, Racial and Caste-related equality. Finally, the paper probes deep into the psychobiography of BabytaiKamble and critiques her unique autobiography ‘The Prisons We Broke’.

In the context of the powerful and the powerless in the social formation of India, caste system has been a matter of immense debate and discussion. Continuing for the centuries, (presumably from the time of the arrival of Aryans) caste system has been a parasitical condition prevailing, thriving and continually reforming, throughout India. Being an Indian one cannot but face its grips from the birth. Moreover, due to the recent phenomenon of reservation on the basis of caste, debates have been more frequent than before. In this paper, I intend to focus on dalit women, who are often considered as 'dalits among dalits', as represented in the literature written by them. For my present purpose I have chosen Bama's Sangati and Baby Kamble's The Prisons We Broke, two seminal novels written by dalit women writers, in order to discuss whether and how the dalit women are affected by the power dynamics functioning not only through the upper caste people (both men and women) but also lower caste men. And we will discover in the course of the study that state, gender, caste, class, religion, and community, each of them form an intersection in order to continue this disbalance of power. And this power here is not just electoral power but a state-generated, religion-fed hierarchy which continues to uphold gender and caste discrimination. And this becomes apparent when we see how the image of dalit women as represented by male writers stand in stark contrast to that of the female writers. A story of helplessness and limitation then becomes a courageous struggle for survival and self-identity.

The IIS University Journal of Arts (ISSN 2319-5339)., 2023

History writing has always been a gendered project. Politics, war, and diplomacy were the fodder for history; recently subaltern history including the social conditions of the peasants, the laws and systems that regulated the people at the bottom has been incorporated. This paper makes an ardent plea to rethink the very process of understanding the subject material of history. If the feminine world has to be adequately incorporated in history, we need to pay heed to incorporation of factors related to motherhood, marriage, sexual practices-the domain of women-in the reading of feminist history. This paper argues that incorporation of autobiographies like that of Baby Kamble would help in bridging the historical gap that one finds in documentation of the lives women especially of the lower caste. The autobiography documents the travails of her dalit community from a feminist perspective pertinent for historical reading of the caste, class and gender dynamics.

Theory and Practice in Language Studies

Space is man-made socially constructed locations, without which they cannot have a comfortable life. Reflecting on the life experiences of the people who exist in the margins of the society, autobiography appears to be the appropriate genre that reflects the lived experiences of the characters as they live through them. It reflects not only the author's personal experiences but also the people whom they meet in their lifeworld. In other words, it is a narration of both individual and collective lived experiences. Dalit writing in Indian literature has become the most controversial topic in recent times, taking autobiography as its predominant form of writing. This paper attempts to explore Baby Kamble’s The Prisons We Broke as a self-reflexive narrative. The characters experience extreme humiliation in the public and private spheres of their lives. The purpose of the paper is to categorise their absolute humiliation experience using Van Manen’s lifeworld existentialism and self-...

The caste-based discrimination began with the establishment of Varna system in four stratification of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras in Indian society. Such caste division was made based on profession and occupation in ancient India. Dalits are considered as outcast due to the oppression faced by them. Though the Indian constitution has enacted the laws for the protection of the rights of Dalits, though Dalits are economically and politically accepted yet they are left away in society, they are not given social platform and are not exposed in society. Dalits come under social hierarchy as the oppressed community who are subjected to the caste-based oppression. In India, the unique caste system, the upper caste and the lower caste divide the classes. The social division is mentioned as perpetual and is seen in number of religious scriptures and such religious scriptures are called as dharma shastras. Autobiography is a preferred genre among majority of Dalit writers because they wish to reveal the truth as they have experienced in their life in Indian society. Dalit does not only denote a specific caste in Indian society and life, but it also denotes all those who have been oppressed by the machinery of social forces in the name of caste, creed or patriarchy. This research aims to explore the plight of Dalit women and the multilayers of the oppression under which their entity and identity are suffocating. In this regard this paper aspires to explore the trajectory of agony among Dalit women in two powerful writers Baby Kamble and Urmila Pawar's autobiographical narrative which are potential enough to scratch and debunk the ruthless stories of Indian women's plight in the society and their struggle to liberate themselves from shackles of slavery and claiming the victorious trophy; establishing a position of their own. Dalit literature is the literature by Dalits, for Dalits and of Dalits that tells the age long tale of insult of human dignity and human esteem. In the vast country like India, many communities exist together and most of them practice different cultures, customs, and traditions. Among them Dalits are one of the communities who are marginalized in the name of Varna system and have been considered untouchables, unheard and unseeable. Dalits form the most different community with different challenges Dalits are considered to be the most marginalized community a historical reference is made several centuries before and during the Vedic times Dalits existed

IASET, 2021

The agony, frustration and pain of Dalit women find a distinctive place in Indian literature. The present research has been thusfocused on to analysing the conditions of Dalit women as portrayed in contemporary literature. For this, comparative analysis of 'The Weave of Life' and 'The Prison We Broke' has been conducted here. The study has specially focused on the manner in which the social and economic conditions of the Dalit women have been portrayed in the two literary works. The common themes that have been found in both the autobiographies are identity crisis, gender discrimination, sexual subjugation and denial of the right to education.

Economic and Political Weekly, 2016

By writing in a “Dalit style of language,” taking recourse to oral tradition, the Dalit woman elides and invents words, breaks the syntactic structure to express the Dalit world, thereby countering the hegemony of the upper-caste/upper-class language which seeks to impose order and obedience.

The Creative Launcher

Feminist movements and Dalit feminist movement in India are mainly based on the experience of Repression and gender discrimination. Patriarchy, gender disparity and sexual violence are the basic reasons for these movements and they also find place prominently in the writings of Dalit women as they have come forward to write their experiences from women's point of view around 1980s. Baby Kamble, Urmila Pawar in Marathi, Geeta Nagabhushan in Kannada, P. Shivakami, Bama in Tamil have got national level consideration. Dalit women were raped; insulted and abused by the upper caste people. They are insecure in the society as they have been exploited on the various levels. This feeling of insecurity of the Dalit women is the central theme of their writings. These women writers have come forward to express their ideas, their experiences in social violence as well as in domestic violence and thus they protest their traditional existence with anger and anguish. Geeta Nagabhushan’s dalit n...