Vol. 3, Issue 7, Part C (2017)

Abstract

Dalit literature is the voice of oppressed community seeking justice from the centuries on the name of caste. Authors from different caste backgrounds are coming forward to participate in this budding genre of literature. The representation of Dalit characters in literature has always remained a sensitive issue. My paper would focus on the representation of Dalit characters by both, Dalit writers and non-Dalit writers. Dalit writers claim that it is necessary to have Dalit identity to be a Dalit writer as they believed that Dalit literature is ‘lived literature’. Dalit writers claim that the portrayal of Dalit characters by non-Dalit writers is always negative or mere sympathetic. I will try to search out, at what extent non- Dalit writers are doing justice with Dalit characters in their work and to do so I will be comparing their characters with the characters of Dalit writers. My focus will be to compare Dalit female characters by Dalit female writer and non- dalit female writer. The major works I will be covering in this paper are, The Grip of Change by P. Sivakami and Children of God by Shanta Rameshwar Rao.