Gender as Lived Trauma in Autobiographies of Bama and Kamble

Abstract: This paper examines the articulation of gender as lived trauma in the autobiographical narratives of Bama (Karukku) and Baby Kamble (The Prisons We Broke). Both texts foreground the intersection of caste and patriarchy, revealing how Dalit women’s identities are shaped by systemic oppression, silencing, and exploitation. Bama’s narrative highlights the disillusionment with religious institutions that perpetuate casteist and gendered hierarchies, while Kamble’s work documents the collective suffering of Mahar women through poverty, sexual violence, and domestic subjugation. Trauma in these autobiographies is not merely personal but communal, embedded in everyday practices and historical memory. Yet, both authors transform trauma into resistance: Bama through reclaiming her voice in literature, and Kamble through Ambedkarite ideology that reconfigures suffering into empowerment. By situating their experiences within broader frameworks of feminist and Dalit discourse, these autobiographies challenge dominant narratives, foregrounding the resilience of Dalit women and the necessity of acknowledging trauma as a lived, embodied reality.