Lived Experience

The paper, in three parts, examines the question of lived experience and Dalit subjectivity in a caste society. The first part argues that the signature postcolonial concepts like “plurality” of lifeworlds as postcolonial historical “difference” fail to provide a method to read Dalit politics outside the framework of irony. The second part critically evaluates existing debates on experience/theory as a necessary precondition for Dalit subjectivity. The paper ends with a speculative reading of “Ambedkar thought” as a decision that creates an ontological separation from the Hindu social. It argues that such subjective decision is prior to experience/theory—it is only through separation that one recognises an experience.

Storylines: Conversations with Women Writers edited by Ammu Joseph, Vasanth Kannabiran, Ritu Menon, Gouri Salvi, Volga; published by Women’s World(India), Delhi, and Asmita Resource Centre for Women, Hyderabad, 2003; pp 312, Rs 250.

Tense Past, Tense Present: Women Writing in English edited by Joel Kurotti; published by Stree, an imprint of Bhatkal and Sen, Kolkata, 2003; pp 235, Rs 450.