Author: Bama
Translator(s): Lakshmi Holmstrom
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2012
Language: English
Pages: 126
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0195698436
Description
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 women.
Thus many voices narrate personal experiences, that are first counterpointed by the generalizing comments of the grandmother and mother figures, and then by the reflections of the author-narrator. There is one set of stories in the book, of women who have worked hard all their lives, from the moment they are able to help with the care of younger siblings, or with chores about the house, or outside. There are other stories as well: telling of rites of passage, a coming of age ceremony, a betrothal, a group wedding , and of possession and exorcism.
Sangati is a book about a community's identity, not about the single self. Yet it ends by pointing out how Paraiya women are always the most vulnerable, even when educated, economically independent and choosing to live alone.
Written in a colloquial style which overturns the decorum and aesthetics of upper-caste, upper-class Tamil, the novel seeks to tease out a positive cultural identity as Dalit and woman, which can resist upper-caste norms.
This novel will appeal to readers interested in Indian writings in translation and students of political and social history.
The economic precariousness of Dalit women leads to a culture of violence, and this is a theme that runs through the book: the terrible violence and abuse of women by their fathers and husbands, and sometimes even brothers women fight back.
But set against these tales of hardship are other stories, of everyday happenings: of women working together, preparing and eating food, celebrating and singing, bathing and swimming. A positive image is created as well, of certain freedoms enjoyed by Dalit w omen: no dowry is required of them, for example, and widows re-marry as a matter of course. There is also a very strong sense of a Dalit woman's relationship to her body in terms of diet, health, and safety.
Sangati is primarily about a community's identity not about the single self. The Dalit woman, once she steps outside her small-town community, enters a caste-ridden and hierarchical society, which constantly asks questions about caste identity. She must then ask herself questions about who she is, and where she belongs.
Contents
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Introduction by Lakshmi Holmstrom
Sangati
Glossary