This translation of the Tamil novel Sangati is a fine example of Dalit writing, and flouts any 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 a number of discriminations--compounded above all, by poverty--suffered by Dalit women.

Sangati: Events

Literature & Fiction

Holmström, Lakshmi

Faustina, Bama

Contemporary

Oxford University Press

Ambai, one of the finest modern Tamil short-story writers, is much read, discussed and written about, and loved for the wit, innovative story-telling, and lyrical grace of her writing. Breaking traditional modes of expression in terms of language and content, In a Forest, a Deer recounts the saga of Tangam Athai, whose husband remarried because she could not bear him a child and Chinthiru's journey to the forest alongside the mythological tale of Sita's exile to underscore Chinthiru's unique search for self-identity. Winner of the Hutch Crossword Book Award 2006, this collection is an enduring testimony of the ideology and belief that Ambai's writings affirm-the need to know and be in touch with a stable or 'grounded' self that allows fluidity and change in modern times of travel, dislocation, and exile.

In A Forest, A Deer: Stories by Ambai

AMBAI

British & Irish

Sangati is a startling insight into the lives of Dalit women who face the double disadvantage of caste and gender discrimination. Written in a colloquial style, the original Tamil version overturns the decorum and aesthetics of upper-caste, upper-class Tamil literature and culture and, in turn, projects a positive cultural identity for Dalits in general and for Dalit women in particular. Sangati flouts received notions about what a novel should be and has no plot in the normal sense. It relates the mindscape of a Dalit woman who steps out of her small town community, only to enter a caste-ridden and hierarchical society, which constantly questions her caste status. Realizing that leaving her community is no escape, she has to come to terms with her identity as an educated, economically independent woman who chooses to live alone. In relating this tale, Bama turns Sangati into the story not just of one individual, but of a pariah community.

Sangati: Events (Oxford India Collection (Paperback))

BAMA

History & Criticism

Karukku

First published in Tamil in 1992, Karukku broke barriers of tradition in ways more than one. The first autobiography of a Dalit woman writer, the book is a classic of subaltern writing, and a bold and poignant tale of life outside mainstream Indian thought and function. Revolving around the main theme of caste oppression within the Catholic Church, Karukku portrays the tension between the self and the community, and presents Bama's life as a process of self-reflection and recovery from social and institutional betrayal. Marking ten years of the first English translation of Karukku, this edition includes a Postscript, where Bama relives the dramatic moment of her leave-taking from her chosen vocation that she had not described in the first edition and a special note 'Ten Years Later'. This volume also carries the editor's note, the author's preface, the author's afterword to the first edition and an updated Introduction by the translator Lakshmi Holmstrom.

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Literary

Karukku is the English translation of Bama's seminal autobiography, which tells the story of a Dalit woman who left her convent to escape from the caste oppression therein.' Her story took the world by storm. When Bama Faustina approached publishing houses in Tamil Nadu with the story of how she was discriminated against in the Catholic Church, they refused to publish her unpolished words. Undeterred, she took her story to the public on her own, and wove a tale of history, caste oppression and sociology to tell how women of so-called low castes are discriminated against in Convents even today. Shocking, since Caste is not a part of Christianity. The book draws readers into Bama's world, and rest assured, it is a world telling the poignant tale of a woman who has prevailed through sheer perseverence in the face of oppression and troubles throughout. Readers will enjoy the updated afterword, which reveals Bama's thoughts on her life ten years after the first publication of the book.

Shilappadikaram: "The Ankle Bracelet"

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

'A masterclass of contemporary Tamil poetry' - Namita Gokhale In 2003, a group of men and women, setting themselves up as guardians of Tamil culture, objected publicly to the language of a new generation of women poets - particularly in the work of Malathi Maithri, Salma, Kutti Revathi and Sukirtharani - charging the women with obscenity and immodesty. More than a decade later, a deep divide still persists in the way readers and critics perceive women poets. Tamil women poets have been categorized as 'bad girls' and 'good girls'. The traditional values prescribed for the 'good' Tamil woman are fearfulness, propriety and modesty. Our poets have chosen, instead, the opposite virtues - fearlessness, outspokenness and a ceaseless questioning of prescribed rules. This anthology celebrates the poetry of the four poets through Lakshmi Holmstrom's English translation.

Wild Words: Four Tamil Poets

Poetry

Harper Perennial India

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Books by Holmström, Lakshmi

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Holmström, Lakshmi. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Sangati: Events

In A Forest, A Deer: Stories by Ambai

Sangati: Events (Oxford India Collection (Paperback))

Karukku

In A Forest, A Deer: Stories by Ambai

Karukku

Shilappadikaram: "The Ankle Bracelet"

Wild Words: Four Tamil Poets