Women, Labor, and Caste in the Poetry of Jyotirao Phule in Nineteenth-Century India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66871/trf-j.v1i3.013Keywords:
Jyotirao Phule, Kulambin, Dalit Feminism, Brahmanical Patriarchy, Women's Labor, Anti-Caste Thought.Abstract
This paper examines Jyotirao Phule's poetry as a significant site for understanding the intertwined structures of caste, gender, and labor in nineteenth-century India. Focusing primarily on Kulambin (A Peasant Woman) and the Akhands contained in Sarvajanik Satya Dharma (The Universal Religion of Truth), the study argues that Phule's poetic writings constitute a radical critique of Brahmanical social order and an early articulation of themes that later emerged in anti-caste theory, Dalit feminism, and intersectional scholarship. Drawing upon the works of Rosalind O'Hanlon, Gail Omvedt, Uma Chakravarti, Sharmila Rege, Anupama Rao, Gopal Guru, and B. R. Ambedkar, the paper argues that Phule transformed poetry into a medium of social mobilization and democratized knowledge by creating a counter-public for Shudras, Atishudras, women, and laboring communities.
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