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Yes! The Scheduled Castes Can Write: Reflections on the Creative and Assertive Writings of the Scheduled Castes of Colonial Bengal

This article focuses on an unexplored domain of Dalit literature that was composed in colonial Bengal, both in the Bengali and English languages. After critically analyzing the contents and arguments of writings of the Scheduled Castes of Bengal, this article confirms that they (the Scheduled Castes) had raised their voice against social injustice and discrimination that they faced from the dominants/elites. The author has broadly classified their writings into three categories: (a) caste-oriented writings, (b) creative literary works and (c) autobiography (biography). The writings of first group had announced a ‘respectable identity’ of the Scheduled Castes by rejecting the traditional interpretations of origin and growth of caste. Creative writings have depicted the deplorable social condition of the Scheduled Castes and raised serious questions against injustice/discrimination and exploitation. Autobiographies on the other hand have recorded the experience of casteism of the Scheduled Castes as well as their struggle for survival. All these features of the article have established the hypothesis that the Scheduled Castes can read and write!