SPEAKING THE UNHEARD: SUBALTERN VOICES IN ARJUN DANGLE’S POISONED BREAD

Abstract

Arjun Dangle’s Poisoned Bread (1992) is a seminal anthology that articulates the experiences, struggles, and resistance of Dalit communities in Maharashtra. The work is not merely a collection of autobiographical, poetic, and narrative pieces—it is a socio-political document that challenges the upper-caste hegemony of Indian literary tradition. This chapter examines Dangle’s role as editor, compiler, and contributor in shaping a collective Dalit consciousness through the lens of subaltern theory. Drawing upon the theoretical insights of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Ranajit Guha, and B.R. Ambedkar, it investigates how Poisoned Bread operates as both literature and testimony, reclaiming narrative space for historically silenced voices. The analysis foregrounds three key aspects: the politics of representation, the aesthetics of resistance, and the role of language in asserting identity.