Hindi Dalit Autobiography

An Exploration of Identity

Bibliographic Data

ID3609490
AuthorsSarah Beth (University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume41
Issue3
Pages545-574
Publication date2007-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x0600240x
OpenAlexW2124534003
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited1

Several powerful constructions of Dalit social and political identity are now circulating in very influential ways within the public sphere in North India, as various groups including both the Bahujan Samaj Party as well as Hindutva organisations compete to assert their influence over how these identities are defined, who they include, and what they mean. In this context, the rise of Hindi Dalit autobiographies as a source of Dalit cultural identity becomes especially important in North India, as they contest traditional conceptions of the Dalit community as 'untouchables' and attempt to re-inscribe Dalit identity in positive, self-assertive terms. However, Dalit autobiographies retain certain ambivalences, as the authors struggle to reconcile their low-caste identity with their current urban middle-class status, and more recently, as their claims to represent all members of the Dalit community are challenged by Dalits of the younger generation

Aesthetics · Art · Biography · Caste · CONTEST · Context (archaeology · Hindi · Hindutva · Identity (music · Ideology · Middle class · Political science · Politics · Social group · Social identity theory · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Law · South Asian Cinema and Culture · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora

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