ABSTRACT
Maharashtra has been a base for several revolutionary and reformist movements including the Dalit movement. The roots of the same had far-reaching consequences in other parts of the country as well. This chapter focuses on an interesting area of literature—the African American women’s writing and the Dalit women’s writing from Maharashtra. As for the issue of the Dalit woman, it can be stated plainly that Dalit identity and politics defines caste identity clearly but resists when it comes to defining the gender dimensions of caste. Dalit women’s narratives like the narratives by men, single out the oppressive caste Hindu ideology for Dalit subordination. Dalit women’s writing challenges elitist writings in content, form, purpose, motivation, ideology, experiential reality and aesthetics. The American Blacks and Indian Dalits are both members of a closed group in their countries, both victims of peculiar institutions and the caste/class structures—the former of race and the latter of untouchability.
