A DALIT WOMAN’S STRUGGLE AGAINST PATRIARCHY AND SOCIETY TO BE A WRITER: A STUDY OF MEENA KANDASAMY’S WHEN I HIT YOU

Abstract

Meena Kandasamy (1984- ), a radical feminist, is one of the most influential Dalit woman writers in postcolonial Indian English Literature. Unlike other Indian women writers, she does not bow down to patriarchy and society which prevent her from making her a writer. She came to realize that if one, especially woman, wants to be a writer than she must have to fight against theage old, stereotyped, hackneyed and obsolete ideas and concepts and, therefore, like Kamala Das she has depicted previously forbidden and ignored emotions frankly and candidly. This paper aims to highlight the struggle of a Dalit woman, who neither gets the father’s encouragement nor her husband’s and what is more, she was beaten and raped even by her own husband. But she never loses her hope and confronts all courageously. Apart from it, society’s norms and casteism are also not a bed full of roses to move on but in each and every step, these prevent her to become a writer. But nothing can stop her from achieving her goal.

Meena Kandasamy (1984- ), a radical feminist, is one of the most influential Dalit woman writers in postcolonial Indian English Literature. Unlike other Indian women writers, she does not bow down to patriarchy and society which prevent her from making her a writer. She came to realize that if one, especially woman, wants to be a writer than she must have to fight against the age old, stereotyped, hackneyed and obsolete ideas and concepts and, therefore, like Kamala Das she has depicted previously forbidden and ignored emotions frankly and candidly. This paper aims to highlight the struggle of a Dalit woman, who neither gets the father’s encouragement nor her husband’s and what is more, she was beaten and raped even by her own husband. But she never loses her hope and confronts all courageously. Apart from it, society’s norms and casteism are also not a bed full of roses to move on but in each and every step, these prevent her to become a writer. But nothing can stop her from achieving her goal.