A Corpse In The Well: Translations From Modern Marathi Dalit Autobiographies

by Arjun Dangle

English (translation)

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

74 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Aamil Syed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The system of castes in still alive and well in India. It has always been that way. But the thing that nourished it was the wilful ignorance of the upper caste intellectuals who claimed that they were simply unaware of the condition of Dalits in the villages and towns of India. Not to say that they examined the caste problem even in cities, but still, this was a very convenient excuse for them to not have to investigate further. However, eventually the Dalits themselves started writing about their experiences. These were the Dalit autobiographies and they brought with them a fresh perspective on the problem of Caste. These real life experiences shed light on how untouchability is practiced in free India and denied the upper caste intellectuals the cloak of ignorance that they hid behind for so long.

This book is a collection of excerpts in the form of stories from several such autobiographies. These are poignant, real life stories that affected me deeply. Arjun Dangle has done a fantastic job of compiling these translations and I'm thankful to him for making it available to those who read English.

[Mallika Soni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book.