Vol. 5, Issue 1, Part A (2023)

From time immemorial women have been the subject of victimization, oppression and subjugation by the patriarchal society which always prefer to see women in the periphery. When the question arises about Dalit women, the situation worsens as the Dalit women are considered the subaltern of the subalterns. They are the oppressed among the oppressed as they are exploited double – by the patriarchal society as a whole and by the Dalit patriarchy. But the history of discrimination and traumatic experiences of the Dalit women has not been effectively heard and represented as it lacks agency owing to the homogenization of the similar experiences of the elite class women. In this regard, several Dalit women writers took the initiative to register their literary presence through autobiographies, memoirs, narratives etc. with the main objective to expose the society which has objectified them, discriminated them, victimized them, stripped them off their identity and always looked upon them with a patronizing stance. The present article aims to highlight the plight of the Dalit women, the multiple layers of oppression and the struggle towards emancipation, as depicted in the literary writings of some selected Dalit women writers.