The first suchIn 1992 when a Dalit woman left the convent and wrote her autobiography, the Tamil publishing industry found her language unacceptable. So Bama Faustina published her milestone work Karukku privately in 1992 a passionate and important mix of history, sociology, and the strength to remember.
Karukku broke barriers of tradition in more ways than one. The first autobiography by a Dalit woman writer and a classic of subaltern writing, it is a bold and ...
Marked by startling language, ethnographic detail and native idiom, Dalit writing in Tamil has gone hand in hand with political activism, and with critical and ideological debate. Sangati flouts received notions of what a novel should be. It has no plot in the normal sense, nor any main characters. In terms of structure, it seeks to create a Dalit feminist perspective and explores the impact of discrimination--compounded above all, by poverty--suffered by Dalit ...
From the author of the highly acclaimed novels, Karukku and Sangati, a jewel-like collection of short stories, in a translation that retains the freshness and inventiveness of the original Kisumbukkaran. Set among the Dalits of Tamil Nadu, these ten stories display the full potential of the 'weapons of the weak'--the dominant Brahmanical order is not openly challenged, but bawdy comments and subversive intent undermine the authority of the powerful. Rustic humour ...