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The world of literature has always been a place where social status is recorded, defended and, in some cases, criticized. Not every life is equally represented in literary history. Intersectional writing is a recognition of the intersection of identities, including caste, gender, class, religion and ability, and plays an important role in explaining oppression that cannot be explained by just one factor. For Dalit women, opposition is never just a matter of caste or gender, but a relationship of both simultaneously.
Bama, Baby Kamble, Urmila Pawar, Shantabai Kamble and other writers have been instrumental in clarifying the reality of Dalit women in literature. Her works defy not only upper-caste literary cultures, but also mainstream feminism, which does not necessarily take caste into account. Of these, Bama’s Karukku (1992) is one of the first Dalit feminist writings to show how caste and gender interact to create a form of marginalization that is both benign and severe. Karukku shows that survival itself can be a political act through memory, anger, humor and resistance.
Understanding double marginalization
Karukku is often described as an autobiography, but more accurately it is a collective memoir. Bama writes not just about himself but about an entire Dalit community, especially Dalit women, whose lives are dominated by humiliation based on caste and men’s control. Even as a child, Bama realized that as a Dalit she was inferior to the rest of society. She remembers that Dalit people were supposed to be subjugated to upper-caste landlords even in the smallest things. Among the most frequently quoted passages in Karukku is her account of observing how an elderly man, the food carrier for an upper-caste man, picks up the food without touching it, an event that makes her realize how deeply caste humiliation is rooted in everyday life.
For Dalit women, this humiliation is compounded by gender. As Bama shows, Dalit women are exploited both by the dominant caste and by other people of their own caste. While Dalit men are victims of caste violence in civil places, Dalit women are victims of caste violence in both civil and domestic places, hard work, domestic violence and social control. Their bodies are as open as they are and their work is accepted. Bama points out that Dalit women are the least valued, underpaid and overworked. It is this kind of double marginalization that gives intersectional narratives their meaning. The analysis of caste cannot be complete without gender and vice versa as caste narratives without gender are male dominated. According to Karukku, the Dalit woman’s experience cannot be secondary or auxiliary; it should be central.
Collective laughter and solidarity as everyday resistance
Karukku’s ability to focus on collective laughter and community engagement is one of its strongest qualities, one that is rarely acknowledged. Even in a situation such as extreme poverty, violence and humiliation, Dalit women in Bama’s autobiography laugh, tease each other, share stories and create emotional support systems with each other. This is not just laughter, but laughter that is political. Bama tells of women who have worked hard all day, sitting together, laughing and telling jokes, moments that serve as catharsis for their suffering and a path to restoring humanity in a world that did not exist for them. Laughter can be seen as a subversive form of protest against the caste society that expects silence, shame and brokenness from them.
Author’s artwork Dharanesh Ramesh
Contrary to dominant narratives that largely focus on Dalit communities in the context of suffering, Karukku shows that communal relationships enable women to survive and that solidarity serves as a tool of resistance. By focusing on these everyday actions, Bama expands the idea of resistance beyond protests or revolutions, showing that survival, joy, and togetherness in contexts of extreme oppression are themselves political.
Refusal to internalize shame
Caste arises not only through physical oppression, but also through psychological violence, which results in particular from shame. Dalit groups have been constantly taught for centuries that they are dirty, inferior and unworthy. Among Karukku’s most radical actions is Bama’s rejection of this shame.
As a child, Bama initially feels no shame when she experiences caste discrimination. Instead, it leaves her feeling confused and upset. As she grows older, she begins to reject the idea that shame is associated with being a Dalit. Despite being considered “uncivilized” by the dominant society, Bama proudly writes about Dalit culture, language, food habits, way of life and simple joys in a very indigenous manner.
Bama also rejects the moral discipline imposed on Dalit women, especially in the form of religion. Bama’s experiences as a Dalit Christian can help us understand her early life experiences of how the church teaches equality but practices caste discrimination and patriarchal subjugation. When she finds out that the church is using the work of Dalit people while expecting obedience and silence from them, she decides to stop working with the institution. It is a sign of her denial of systems that demand only humility and sacrifice from the oppressed.
Bama reclaims her body, her voice, and her identity by denying shame. Such denial is notable because internalized shame is one of the most powerful caste tools of oppression. Karukku shows that dignity begins with rejecting the untruths that people try to impose on others.
Writing as survival and political testimony
Perhaps the most important act of resistance in Karukku is writing itself. Bama writing is not a literary practice but a method of survival, healing and witnessing. She has said that writing Karukku was like opening the door and cutting herself open, which can be painful but must be done. The title Karukku, which means “sharp-edged palmyra leaf” in Tamizh, symbolizes both suffering and strength.
The Karukku language is direct and uncompromising. Bama does not downplay her words to suit the tastes of the literary elite. In this way, she questions the concept of what constitutes good literature. Their everyday speeches and oral storytelling traditions make Dalit women’s voices heard in a space where they previously had none. The writing is also intended to ensure that the experiences of Dalit women are not lost. In her narrative, Bama tells the story of many others who had no voice and were not given a chance. Karukku maintains that the lives of Dalit women are not irrelevant and that they need to be heard in their own voices.
A seminal work of Indian literature, Karukku shows how a combination of caste, gender and other factors shape a life marked by struggle and resistance. Bama powerfully conveys the Dalit feminist perspective to the world through laughter, solidarity and the rejection of shame, through writing as survival and by showing that intersectional narratives are the key to the true picture of oppression.
Dharanesh Ramesh hails from Coimbatore and is a PhD candidate in Gender and Development Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. Based on the belief that stories shape structures, his studies and work explore the intersections of gender, caste and public policy from an intersectional feminist perspective. He is particularly interested in understanding how power, privilege and politics interact to define inclusion and justice in everyday life. Dharanesh is naturally curious and often turns to drawing, painting, photography and writing as an extension of his reflective practice. His work seeks to bridge thought and experience, analysis and art in the pursuit of justice and representation.