‘When will I break free from this house … Oh Shiva!’

Viswanatha, Vanamala (2026) ‘When will I break free from this house … Oh Shiva!’. In: Devanura Mahadeva: The Prose of Alterity. Routledge, London, pp. 118-133. ISBN 9781003228455

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Abstract

Fractured and fraught gender relationships, caused by glaring systemic inequalities, form the core of Devanura Mahadeva’s oeuvre, which brings to light the complex and rich interiority of Dalit lives. His writing urges us to look outside the Hindu fold and its graded inequality located at the intersection of caste and gender to build a new imaginary that enables a life of dignity for all. Mahadeva finds this life-giving resilience not so much in the idealist aspirations of educated young men as in his earthy women like Sakavva, the gritty grandmother who can imagine defying the god of Death himself; Puttagowri, the gifted teenager who draws a lively peacock on the walls of her hut; and the tenacious Akkamadevi and Kusumabale, who dare transgress the limits of endogamy, which reinforces the caste divide further. This paper examines the human ecology of Mahadeva’s narratives to seek out his ethic and aesthetic for a gender-just social order, based on compassion, conservation, and beauty in a world torn asunder by hunger, humiliation, and squalor.

Item Type:	Book Section
Authors:	Viswanatha, Vanamala
Document Language:	Language English
Subjects:	Social sciences > Sociology & anthropology > Groups of people > People by social and economic levels > General principles of social classes > Principles of stratification > Caste systems Social sciences > Groups of people > People by social and economic levels > General principles of social classes > Principles of stratification > Caste systems Social sciences > Political Science > Civil & political rights
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru
Full Text Status:	None
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/7928
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003228455-25

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