Posthuman Entanglements: Dalit Women Recasting Agency in Contemporary Indian Writing

Posthumanism challenges conventional notions of what it means to be human, highlighting connections, embodiment, and interdependence. While most of the conversation centers on technology, ecology, or Western philosophy, the experiences of India's marginalized people, particularly Dalit women, provide new perspectives on voice, agency, and identity. This paper explores how Dalit women's writing adds to post humanist theory by depicting collective, relational, and hybrid forms of being that resist both caste-patriarchal oppression and universal notions of the human. The paper looks at Karukku by Bama and When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy to show how memory, community, and experimental storytelling are used by Dalit women writers to break silence. When I Hit You exposes systemic violence and fragmented identity through linear narration, while Karukku uses embodied memory and group strength as resistance. Based on Rosi Braidotti's The Posthuman and Sharmila Rege's Writing Caste/Writing Gender, the paper makes the argument that both works extend the boundaries of humanism, gender, and caste. Through reimagining humanity through reliance, fragmentation, and resistance, they highlight the usefulness of posthumanism in overcoming both physical and social inequalities. Additionally, this paper shows that Dalit women's literature not only challenges oppression but also adds to worldwide posthumanist discussions. Through the addition of Dalit feminist perspectives in discussions of posthumanism, this paper shows that modern Indian literature does more than only challenge caste-patriarchal systems; it also makes a significant contribution to wider theoretical discussions about the posthuman. Social justice, material injustice, and the various ways that marginalized communities express their presence, resistance, and identity can all be integrated into posthumanist theories.