Representation of Dalit life in Imaiyam's Koveru Kazhuthaigal

Abstract

Indian society and its collective consciousness are polluted with casteism. After thousands of years of suppression and exploitation, the margin came to the centre and the other side of the history was revealed. Dalit literature gave insights about the dalit life which otherwise is never written in a dalit’s view. “Writing about Dalits by Dalit writers with a Dalit Consciousness” says Sharan Kumar Limbale about Dalit literature in his book Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature. Having this as base, this paper proposes to study Imaiyam's Koveru Kazhuthaigal from dalit literary perspective and appreciate the life represented in it. The novel is set in an Indian village and the protagonists belong to the washerman community which is considered as the lowest of the lower in caste hierarchy practiced in Tamilnadu. The hypothesis is to question the collective consciousness regarding the inhuman casteist practices and demand change in the life of the oppressed and in the conscience of the oppressor. Famous Tamil Dalit writer Bama proposes eduation as a solution for casteism in her semi autobiographial text Karukku; Imaiyam shows change of place from rural to urban setup as a solution for better treatment. The real solution demands change from the oppressor too. Limitations of this research is the huge volume of the possible solution to the problem represented and the concrete presence of casteism in Indian psyche.