Dalit Dialogues : Indian Dalit Plays in English Translation

The first volume of Dalit plays available in English translation, this collection bridges the gap to unheard voices within Dalit literature.

Dalit Dialogues gathers together eleven Dalit plays originally written in a broad scope of Indian languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Tulu. The plays in the collection span both a wide range of provinces and time periods and demonstrate a wide range of dramatic conventions and theatrical forms.

In turning its attention towards plays and theatre, this book opens out an area of study that is largely underrepresented in Indian Dalit literature. As the first book of its kind, Dalit Dialogues aims to highlight the importance of the discipline within the context of the wider Dalit movement in India.

Edited by Shubhendu Shekhar Naskar, recipient of the Charles Wallace Research Grant, this collection introduces Dalit playwrights – all of them writing in the vernacular – to an English-speaking readership. His critical introduction is accompanied by translators’ notes, each providing wider context and a critical apparatus for students to explore the language and themes of the plays.

Written for translators, future researchers and students of Global theatre, this collection contributes to the development of the literary aesthetics of resistance by addressing the depiction of caste, class and gender-based marginalisation within the framework of postcolonial Indian theatre.