Caste and Gender in the South Asian Diaspora: Case Studies of the Novels Written by Bharati Mukherjee, Diaspora Blog, and Diaspora Matrimonial Sites

Abstract

Caste discrimination is a social problem which is spread not only in India but beyond its borders. Caste oppression which goes unsaid, becomes a point of double marginalization of women either of higher or lower caste. The research thesis analyzes how the South Asian diaspora represents caste and gender. The thesis is accomplished through a close feminist reading (Lukic & Sánchez, 2011) of the literary texts, The Tiger’s Daughter (1971), Jasmine (1989), and Desirable Daughters (2002) by Bharati Mukherjee, a matrimonial site Jeevansathi.com, and a blog article “Spearheading a survey of caste in South Asian diaspora” (2016), written by Dalit diaspora Valliammal Karunakaran et al. Methodologically, the research constructs an interdisciplinary bridge between the literary and digital texts, explored with a close feminist reading. Concerning the research question, the thesis debates the concept of gender in contemporary feminist theory, which develops in matters relating to transnational geography and is shaped by different factors where caste is one of the crucial points. In this regard, the theoretical debate starts from postcolonial feminism, decolonial feminism, and Dalit (lower caste) feminism and will move toward Dalit diaspora feminism. This debate emphasizes that the fight for the Dalit diaspora women is multiple because they are not only “brown” women but rather carry their caste with their gender, race, and class. The conclusions of the thesis are as follows: first, the texts of Mukherjee written from the perspective of an upper-caste and upper-middle-class woman have used Dalits and Dalit diaspora only as a filler in the novels, and the concept of caste has been blurred with that of the class. Second, the matrimonial site, Jeevansathi.com, is designed according to upper-caste and upper-middle-class criteria, leaving the lower-caste women outside. Contrary to the first two cases, the blog article written by the Dalit diaspora shows that Dalit diaspora feminist discourse accepts caste as one of their identities. There is a proposal of collaboration and collectiveness to stand against the caste apartheid.