Position of Religion in Dalit Literature: A Case Study of Bama's Karukku

Karukku is an autobiographical work written by a Roman Catholic woman from Tamil Nadu. She writes her works under the pen name Bama. This is an autobiography which raised from a personal crisis in the authors life because of the oppression she underwent due to her religion and caste. This book gets its shape and polemic from the authors drive to gain integrity as a Dalit and Christian. This autobiography isn’t a conventional one, it is not simple or in chronological order but had different perspectives, different themes and reflection of different life events. This book provides us the details of how the Church influenced her and the lives of other Dalit Catholics. Other than the religious life which she discovers, she also finds out through the process of self-education the meaning of untouchability. Her re-reading of the Christian scriptures enables her to spread hope to the other Dalits. She emphasises on the revolutionary aspects of Christianity, the values of equality, social justice and love for all. Her life experiences drive her to actively engage in the upliftment of the oppressed. After she becomes a nun she has a little hope that she will be able to put these ambitions into effect. Through this journey she discovers how her perspective differs from that of the convent and the Church. This conflict makes the core theme of the book Karukku