Dissenting Dalit Voices: An Analysis of Select Oral Songs of Dalit Women in Kerala

Authors

Anne Placid

Abstract

The caste and gender configurations in literary and socio-historic spheres that misrepresent or eliminate Dalit women’s voices in mainstream chronicles uphold the notion that caste subjugation has been unresponsively endured by Dalit women. This depiction of the gendered caste subaltern in the mainstream narratives is interrogated and countered by the oral songs of Dalit women in Kerala. This paper examines how the songs as the sites of the register of the voices of Dalit women hold cultural and historic significance carrying the bearings of the Dalit feminist standpoint. The oral songs which contain the feminist consciousness of the gendered caste subaltern in the nascent form provide a lineage to contemporary Dalit feminist writings.

Author Biography

Anne Placid is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of English at Government College Thrissur in Kerala. She is a part-time Ph.D. Scholar working in the field of Dalit Oral Literature at Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram, India. She has published several research articles.

Recommended Citation

Placid, Anne (2021) "Dissenting Dalit Voices: An Analysis of Select Oral Songs of Dalit Women in Kerala," Journal of International Women's Studies: Vol. 22: Iss. 10, Article 4.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol22/iss10/4