Concealing Caste

Narratives of Passing and Personhood in Dalit Literature

Joel Lee author Kusuma Satyanarayanan author Joel Lee editor Kusuma Satyanarayanan editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:5th Jul '23

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Concealing Caste cover

The caste system is supposed to be inescapable-you cannot change the caste into which you are born. But are there ways to elude the system? Concealing Caste tells the stories of women and men in India who, though born into communities stigmatized as 'untouchable,' are perceived by others as 'high caste.' Like the literature on racial passing in the American context, the short stories and autobiographical essays in this volume reveal the inner workings of a vicious social order, illuminating the contradictions of caste hierarchy through the experience of those who clandestinely transgress its boundaries. Concealing Caste is the first collection of Dalit writings focused on this public secret. Bringing together Dalit literature from Marathi, Telugu, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, English and Malayalam-including stories and essays never before translated-this landmark anthology illustrates the agonizing choices and at times devastating consequences faced by Dalits who experiment with identity in a society shot through with the principle of birth-based inequality.

ISBN: 9780192865243

Dimensions: 224mm x 147mm x 19mm

Weight: 390g

210 pages