Paper short abstract:

This paper will attempt to forge links between space and trauma as presented within Dalit literature. Are there specific kinds of trauma presented in Dalit texts that happen in specific spaces? If so, why does this happen, and what critical links can we draw from these relationships?

Paper long abstract:

This paper will attempt to forge links between space and trauma as presented within Dalit literature. With trauma being an under researched area in regards to Dalit literature, an important part of the research process must focus on the relationships between various kinds of traumatic experience and space. Are there specific kinds of trauma presented in Dalit texts that happen in specific spaces? What is the importance of these spaces in regards to caste based oppression? Are trauma/space pairings consistent throughout genres of Dalit literature? This paper attempts to answer these questions through the analysis of both Dalit life narratives and fiction. By doing this, we are able to see how important these relationships are, as they are included within fictional texts, which highlights how central to Dalit life they are. The main focus of this paper will be how trauma is presented in public spaces and will highlight certain areas such as main streets and schools as sources of specific kinds of traumatic experience which affect certain people in the community. Examples of trauma which occur in public spaces are therefore able to be analysed alongside instances of traumatic experience away from these spaces which, although are less common, are still just as traumatic. Once these trauma/space pairings have been outlined, it will show how they are able to sit in dialogue with other research areas such as concepts of humiliation and Dalit feminism.