Dalit Feminism and the Casteing of Patriarchy - Pune
Channel: Dalit Voice and Vision
Date: 2016-06-26

Cast(e)ing Gender in Dalit Literature
An international conference at Savitribai Phule Pune University
14-15 December 2015

Convenors: Judith Misrahi-Barak and Nicole Thiara

Local organisers: Aniket Jaaware and Chandrani Chatterjee

This conference was the 5th event organised within the AHRC-funded Research Network Series ‘Writing, Analysing, Translating Dalit Literature’.  It was hosted by the English Department at Savitribai Phule Pune University. The focus of this conference was the representation of gender in Dalit literature. We asked for contribution that addressed questions such as: How is (Dalit) masculinity and femininity reconfigured in Dalit novels, autobiographies, poems, short stories and films? How do Dalit literary texts reflect, challenge, or otherwise transform the production of gendered identities of Dalit subjects and citizens in historical and political discourse? Has Dalit literature taken up the specific challenges posed by Dalit feminist activism, or otherwise challenged the impasse of hegemonic feminism with regard to the question of representation? To what extent do these texts take up the questions of aesthetics, politics and representation and how do they challenge certainties?

The conference followed a workshop format that included discussions with writers, scholars and keynote speakers as well as traditional panel sessions.