Aparna Ashok
The discrimination between the haves and have nots is the longest existing system of hostility and unfortunately is still in existence in various forms. Religion, caste, gender, sexuality, culture, tradition, economic status etc. are some of the major factors that drag some particular communities to the margin who are called subaltern by the Italian Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci. In course of time the subaltern start speaking and questioning the mainstream supremacy through all the possible ways among which literature occupies a major role. Through dismantling the pre-existing, pre-compiled traditional literary history, the marginalised community embraces the subaltern identity and expose the menacing, unplumbed real world.Dalit poetry is one of the strongest branches of protest literature with powerful themes and the selection of piercing words that contain the angst and anguish of the oppressed community. NamdeoDhasal’s contribution to Dalit poetry gain worldwide acknowledgement with his extremely powerful social realistic poems. His poems not only unveil the caste oppression but also discuss the social problems which are considered indecent to be addressed. This paper is an attempt to explore the poetic contribution of NamdeoDhasal in the field of protest literature through analysing his selected poems. How he uses poetry to be a revolting weapon and its effects in the society is also analysed. The paper proceeds to focus on the social realistic and existentialist elements in Dhasal’s poems and the relevance of the bugging or haunting style he executed in the expression of marginalised realities.
dalit poetry, marginalised community, social realism, protest