Redefining Postcolonial Theory through Dalit and Adivasi Literature

Centring Marginalized Voices
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-32318-1
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 168 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Routledge Research on Asian Literature

This book critically assesses the limitations of postcolonial theory and positions Dalit and Adivasi literary texts within a caste framework in order to analyze how caste has been the central force in the marginalization of these voices within the South Asian literary and cultural paradigm.

Drawing on major theoretical works, including those of Spivak, Bhabha, Said, Loomba, Ashcroft, Young, and the subaltern historians, the book argues that the Brahminical caste system operates as a central mechanism of dispossession, displacement, and dehumanization for Dalit and Adivasi communities. Through close analysis of Dalit and Adivasi narratives, the chapters examine the textual and lived realities of these groups as structurally marginalized communities. The book further demonstrates that caste functions through processes of Hinduization and homogenization, revealing the inadequacies of postcolonial and subaltern theoretical frameworks in explaining why postcolonial countries around the globe often share similar structural traits, and how Indian upper-caste elites (such as Gandhi and Nehru), are erroneously represented as “subalterns.”

Strengthening the argument that, without Dalit and Adivasi epistemologies, postcolonial theory remains complicit in reinforcing elite narratives, this book will be of use to scholars, postgraduate students, and academics in the fields of South Asian literature, post-colonial studies, and literature more broadly.

Zielgruppe

Academic and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Guragain, Khem

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Indigene Völker
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kolonialgeschichte, Geschichte des Imperialismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Kolonialismus, Imperialismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturen sonstiger Sprachräume Ost- & Südostasiatische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturen sonstiger Sprachräume Indische & Dravidische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter One: Introduction: Grounding Dalit and Adivasi Literary Perspectives

Chater Two: Recasting the Nation and Re-Claiming Dalit Women’s Identity in Bama’s Sangati

Chapter Three: Ambedkarite Theatre as a Tool of Liberation in Sharankumar Limbale’s Hindu

Chapter Four: Adivasis at the Crossroads: The Rhetoric of “Antinationalism” and Subaltern Subjectivity in The Adivasi Will Not Dance

Chapter Five: Naga Nationalism and the Question of Adivasi Autonomy in Temsula Ao’s These Hills Called Home

Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Khem Guragain is a Professor in the Faculty of English and Liberal Studies at Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto, Canada. He holds a PhD in English from York University, an MA in Literatures of Modernity from Toronto Metropolitan University, and an MA in English from Tribhuvan University. His research examines Dalit and Adivasi/Indigenous literatures and their interventions in nationalist discourse, demonstrating how these texts challenge elitist narratives and exceed the analytical frameworks of postcolonial and subaltern studies, which often overlook the centrality of caste and its structural injustices in South Asia. His broader research interests include Indigenous literatures, caste and subaltern studies, Critical Race Studies, Indian Ocean studies, and diaspora studies.