ACLA 2006 Annual Meeting: The Human and Its Others

This panel invites papers from scholars considering literature by writers who define themselves as “Dalit” (untouchable caste) as well as literature concerned with the representation of untouchability. As Dalit literature has emerged in many of the languages of India (Marathi, Hindi, Tamil)as well as in English, it provides a rich site for the work of the comparatist. In addition, both writers and scholars seeking to broaden the scope of Dalit writing often bring these texts into conversation with the literature of African-Americans and that of other marginalized communities around the world. Presentations may consider some aspect of the following questions:

• What are the different ways in which the Dalit has been conceived of as subhuman? How has the trope of the animal/beast been important in this conception?
• In what way might Dalit literature be conceived of as participating in a new humanism which privileges the human experience as central and fundamental? For example, in the comparative gesture (by Dalit activists and writers as well as by scholars) that links this work with that of the Black American South, can we read a crosscultural humanism?
• What are the intellectual characteristics demanded of the Dalit/Dalit writing to be considered ‘human’, particularly in relation to Mandal commission politics, and/or in relation to the aesthetics privileged by mainstream literature?
• The theme of ‘humanizing’ the subject through literacy and education appears often in Dalit narratives. How does Dalit literature address this thematic frame?
• How does geographical space play a role in this humanizing mission?

Friday, March 24

Laura Brueck, University of Texas, Austin
‘“Dalit Consciousness” and the Emerging Dalit Literary Critical Perspective’
Toral Gajarawala, University of Oregon
“Some Time Between Revisionist and Revolutionary: Reading History in Dalit Literature”
Shalini Ramachandran, San Diego State University
“Defilement and Liberation in Dalit Autobiography”
Mathangi Krishnamurthy, University of Texas, Austin
“The twice born and the thrice bound: Of discourse and other demons”

Saturday, March 25

Veena Deo, Hamline University
“Motherwit and its Humanity: Urmila Pawar’s negotiations with Education”
Vinay Dharwadker, “University of Wisconsin
Madison, Enlightenment, Education, and Emancipation in Dalit Literature: Some Historical Precedents and Cultural Contexts”
Chinnaiah Jangam, New York University
“Conceptualizing the Self: Analysis of the Dalit Canon in Telugu 1920-1950”
Eleanor Zelliot, Carleton College
“Memory and Place: Picturing the Context of Maharashtrian Dalit Literature”