Writing Resistance: The Rhetorical Imagination of Hindi Dalit Literature

Laura R. Brueck emphasizes the sociopolitical perspectives and literary strategies of a range of contemporary Dalit (low caste) writers working in Hindi, exploring what makes Dalit literature "Dalit," why it is important, and where it opposes or intersects with other bodies of Indian literature. She follows the debate among Dalit writers as they establish a specific literary critical approach, underscoring the significance of the Dalit literary sphere as a "counterpublic" generating contemporary Dalit social and political identities. Brueck then performs close readings of contemporary Hindi Dalit short stories, focusing on the aesthetic and stylistic strategies deployed by writers whose class, gender, and geographic backgrounds shape their distinct voices. By reading Dalit literature as literature, this study unravels its aesthetic innovations as well as the complexities of its sociopolitical and identity-based origins.