Subalternities in India and Latin America: Dalit Autobiographies and the Testimonio
London; New York: Routledge (2022), xii, 216 pp.
Contains index
ISBN 978-0-367-36098-6 (pbk); 978-0-429-34379-7 (ebook)
"This volume presents a comparative exploration of Dalit autobiographical writing from India and of Latin American testimonio as subaltern voices from two regions of the Global South. Offering frames for linking global subalternity today, the chapters address Siddalingaiah's Ooru Keri; Muli's Life History; Manoranjan Byapari and Manju Bala's narratives; and Yashica Dutt's Coming Out as Dalit; among others, alongside foundational texts of the testimonio genre. While embedded in their specific experiences, the shared history of oppression and resistance on the basis of race/ethnicity and caste from where these subaltern life histories arise constitutes an alternative epistemological locus. The chapters point to the inadequacy of reading them within existing critical frameworks in autobiography studies." (Publisher description)
Introduction / Sonya Surabhi Gupta, 1
PART I. TOWARDS A CONCEPTUAL AND DEFINITIONAL FRAMEWORK
1 The touch of the other: Testimonio and autobiographical writing in India and Latin America / Francesca Denegri, 21
2 Some notes on the testimonio / Jorge Fornet, 44
3 The testimonio in Latin America and India: Critical contestations of the collective voice / Kavita Panjabi, 54
4 In defence of the "subaltern": Tracing the concept through/across South Asia and Latin America / Deepti, 69
PART II. AUTOBIOGRAPHIES IN THE PLURIVERSE OF DALIT WRITING
5 Autobiography and the defacement of the self: Siddalingaiah's Ooru Keri / Shad Naved, 87
6 Muli's life history as Dalit testimonio / Raj Kumar, 96
7 Dalit writing in Bangla: A thematic reading of selected narratives by Manoranjan Byapari and Manju Bala / Sayantan Dasgupta, 111
8 Opening the self or the other? On the emergence of Bahujan self-narratives on new media / Shubham Solanki, 122
9 Studying caste up: Yashica Dutt's Coming Out as Dalit / Purnachandra Naik, 133
PART III. REVISITING THE TESTIMONIO WITH CROSS-CULTURAL READINGS
10 At the threshold of literature: Testimonios after Menchú / Vijaya Venkataraman, 147
11 The small voice of history: Revisiting Biography of a Runaway Slave / Sonya Surabhi Gupta, 163
12 Resistance through recipes: Locating testimonial aspects in Dalit and Chicana food narratives / Grace Mariam Raju, 178
13 Testimonio as a repository of subaltern memory: Reading women's narratives from Guatemala and India / Smriti Handoo, 185
PART I. TOWARDS A CONCEPTUAL AND DEFINITIONAL FRAMEWORK
1 The touch of the other: Testimonio and autobiographical writing in India and Latin America / Francesca Denegri, 21
2 Some notes on the testimonio / Jorge Fornet, 44
3 The testimonio in Latin America and India: Critical contestations of the collective voice / Kavita Panjabi, 54
4 In defence of the "subaltern": Tracing the concept through/across South Asia and Latin America / Deepti, 69
PART II. AUTOBIOGRAPHIES IN THE PLURIVERSE OF DALIT WRITING
5 Autobiography and the defacement of the self: Siddalingaiah's Ooru Keri / Shad Naved, 87
6 Muli's life history as Dalit testimonio / Raj Kumar, 96
7 Dalit writing in Bangla: A thematic reading of selected narratives by Manoranjan Byapari and Manju Bala / Sayantan Dasgupta, 111
8 Opening the self or the other? On the emergence of Bahujan self-narratives on new media / Shubham Solanki, 122
9 Studying caste up: Yashica Dutt's Coming Out as Dalit / Purnachandra Naik, 133
PART III. REVISITING THE TESTIMONIO WITH CROSS-CULTURAL READINGS
10 At the threshold of literature: Testimonios after Menchú / Vijaya Venkataraman, 147
11 The small voice of history: Revisiting Biography of a Runaway Slave / Sonya Surabhi Gupta, 163
12 Resistance through recipes: Locating testimonial aspects in Dalit and Chicana food narratives / Grace Mariam Raju, 178
13 Testimonio as a repository of subaltern memory: Reading women's narratives from Guatemala and India / Smriti Handoo, 185
