Entwined Identities: Caste, Sexuality and Femininity in Modern English Novels

Abstract

For several years, literature has been a perceptive window into the intricacies of human identity, particularly in cultures with strong social stratification. Writers from marginalized communities in modern India have broadened this mirror, illuminating lives molded by the concurrent demands of gender, sexuality, and caste. Their experiences shed light on the systemic injustices that still shape social experience in addition to sharing personal tales. Based on this idea, this essay explores the intersections of gender, caste, and queer identities in a selection of works by Urmila Pawar, Baby Kamble, Meena Kandasamy, and Sachin Kundalkar, who represent a variety of voices in English literature from the twenty-first century. The study investigates how these authors portray the complex systems of discrimination and belonging that influence people's lives in modern India using the intersectionality framework. Meena Kandasamy and Sachin Kundalkar illustrate how sexuality and social hierarchy interact to question accepted ideas of identity and morality, while Urmila Pawar and Baby Kamble show how caste and patriarchy work together to suppress Dalit women. The paper examines how narrative voice, language, and emotion become tools of self-expression and resistance, drawing on Dalit feminist and queer theoretical views. It makes the case that these works turn literature into a forum for discussion and protest, where marginalized voices are heard with strength and dignity. The study concludes by confirming that intersectionality, when rooted in the Indian culture, offers fresh perspectives on literature as a reflection of both adversity and resiliency.