Kerala - Kochi
A voluminous dossier on Dalit writing
Special Correspondent
The cover of the book 'No Alphabet in sight'
Kochi: Nothing other than the words of Poykayil Appachan would form a
fitting title for the first dossier of Dalit writing in Tamil and
Malayalam brought out as part of a project on new Dalit writing in
South India: 'No Alphabet in Sight' ( Kanunneeloraksharavum in
Malayalam).
The voluminous dossier, edited by acclaimed scholars K. Satyanarayana
and Susie Tharu, both faculty members at the Department of Cultural
Studies of the English and Foreign Languages University (EFL-U),
Hyderabad, was released at a function here recently.
Speaking at the book launch, Mr. Satyanarayana, also an activist and
Telugu litterateur, said there was a dearth of critical writing on
Dalit thinking in English in the country, especially in the South.
"For instance, there is a vibrant Dalit movement in Telugu, but it is
not documented in English," he said, citing the reasons for embarking
upon the project.
Talking of the anthology featuring prominent Dalit writers in
Malayalam and Tamil, Mr. Satyanarayana said their works provided an
alternative point of view, just as the way most of these writers lived
their lives.
"Most of them live in difficult conditions, but they have taken up the
serious task of investing in the cultural domain," he said.
Ms. Tharu, in her address, said that so far, it had been a small group
that had dominated social science studies.
"There has been no methodological inventiveness, no passion or drive,
leave alone richness in mainstream sociological discourses for long.
The non-canonical writers, on the contrary come up with completely
different, often shocking, articulation of issues. It is like the
elephant telling the story of the blind men," she said.
Ms. Tharu, however, cautioned that the volume was far from the
beginning of the formulation of an ideology. "It is an offering with
which different people will do different things," she hoped.
The book was released by Ravi Deecee of DC Books. T. Muralidharan
accepted the first copy.
Earlier, the function began on a colourful note with Pradeepan
Pambirikkunu's moving rendition of Poykayil Appachan's popular song, '
Kanunneeloraksharavum…'
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