Struggle for Identity in Sharankumar Limbale’s “Akkarmashi’’: A Dalit Perspective

Abstract

This study aims to investigate Sharan Kumar Limbale’s work, Akkarmashi, to re-examine the Dalit discourse and the dialectics of oppression and emancipation of dalits who have been subjected to the scourge of untouchability. Initially considered merely a protest, Dalit discourse has acquired a recognizable identity with its content, form and style. The study finds that Sharan Kumar Limbale, a prolific writer, depicts the annals of suffering, humiliation, mental anguish, self-realization, rebellion, retaliation, and rehabilitation that are the life spirits of Dalit literature. In his work, Akkarmashi, the individual identity gets assimilated into the larger social milieu, however later to be seen as reincarnated and rehabilitated with the access of self, identity and assertion.