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Pasmanda feminism reframes caste and gender in ‘Dulari’

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in
A South Asian woman wearing glasses and a light gray t-shirt sits reading an open book with yellow pages in a home library setting lined with bookshelves.
Research area:Arts and HumanitiesPostcolonial and Cultural Literary StudiesSouth Asian Studies and Diaspora

What the study found

The article argues that Sajjad Zaheer’s "Dulari" offers a rare view of the lived realities of Dalit Muslim women, especially those from Arzaal communities. It reads the story through Pasmanda feminism to highlight caste, gender, religious marginalization, and invisibility in Muslim and feminist discourse.

Why the authors say this matters

The authors say this reading challenges the caste-blindness of liberal feminism and the Hindu-centrism often found in Dalit feminism. They conclude that including Pasmanda epistemologies can expand South Asian caste literature and postcolonial and global feminist discourse.

What the researchers tested

The study is a close literary and political reading of Sajjad Zaheer’s "Dulari," first published in the 1932 Urdu anthology Angarey and later translated into English in 2014. It draws on Anupama Rao’s idea of "embodied inequality" and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s concept of "epistemic exclusion" to interpret the story.

What worked and what didn't

The reading suggests that Dulari’s suffering is shaped by caste-based discrimination, Islamophobia, and invisibility in Muslim and feminist discourses. It also suggests that Zaheer subtly critiques Ashraf elite morality and shows the limited forms of resistance available to the subaltern.

What to keep in mind

The abstract does not describe empirical data or comparison with other texts beyond its stated contrast with the Progressive Writers’ Movement framework. It also does not give detailed limitations, so the scope is limited to the claims made in this literary interpretation.

Key points

  • "Dulari" is presented as a literary site for examining caste, gender, and religious marginalization in Indian Muslim communities.
  • The article uses Pasmanda feminism to foreground Dalit Muslim women, especially those from Arzaal communities.
  • The authors say the reading challenges caste-blind liberal feminism and Hindu-centric Dalit feminism.
  • The study draws on "embodied inequality" and "epistemic exclusion" to interpret Dulari’s suffering.
  • The abstract says the story subtly critiques Ashraf elite morality and shows limited subaltern resistance.

Disclosure

Research title:
Pasmanda feminism reframes caste and gender in ‘Dulari’
Publication date:
2026-02-28
DOI:
10.20897/femenc/17999
OpenAlex record:
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AI provenance: AI provenance information is not available for this post.