Paper short abstract:

This paper will analyse the spatial politics of the representations of caste and untouchability in British Asian literature. How do diasporic texts represent domestic, religious, educational and public spaces as touched by caste politics or as free from all or certain elements of caste?

Paper long abstract:

This paper will analyse the spatial politics of the representations of caste and untouchability in British Asian literature. Very few diasporic texts have been published that explore the significance of caste and caste discrimination in the UK and the few that do so have been produced in the last 15 years; this paper will examine why so few published texts engage with the representation and politics of caste and why there appears to be a recent trend to address caste and untouchability to a slightly greater extent. How do diasporic texts represent domestic, religious, educational and public spaces as touched by caste politics or as free from all or certain elements of caste? How does the diasporic situation influence and re-position the way in which caste and caste discrimination is depicted in literary texts in comparison to the way in which caste is portrayed in Indian literature? To what extent do the texts' intended audiences shape the way in which the spatial politics of caste are represented? Do the texts draw on the Indian tradition of Dalit writing, either implicitly or explicitly? The texts that will be explored in this paper are produced by writers of different caste backgrounds and most of texts are published but some of them are unpublished; the writers discussed include Rena Dipti Annobil, Balvinder Banga, Kavita Bhanot, Reena Jaisiah, Daljit Khankhana, Daljinder Nagra, Bali Rai and Sathnam Sanghera.