Gogu Shyamala

Last updated

Gogu Shyamala
OccupationWriter, activist
Known forDalit short stories

Gogu Shyamala is a Telugu-language writer and women's activist [1] and a prominent Dalit. [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

Gogu Shyamala was born in 1969 in Peddemul village in Ranga Reddy district (now part of Telangana). Her parents are agricultural workers. She was also the leader of a vetti (unpaid labour) team that worked for the local landlord. [4] [5] She has stated that her brother Ramachandra was forced into agricultural labour, but she was the only one of her three siblings who obtained higher education. [6] Financial constraints initially prevented her from enrolling in college, however she eventually obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University. [6] Around that time, she became an activist with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), but insists that she never let the politics overshadow the education. [6]

Activism

In an interview in 2016, Gogu Shyamala described her awakening consciousness to casteism and discrimination in India as an adult, noting "I never realized that there was any discrimination as a kid. It was after growing up that I discovered it." [6] As a student leader, she protested living conditions and food provisions in her hostel. [6] In college, she became an activist with the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), but since parted from them following the Tsundur massacre. [6] It was at this point that Shyamala began to question the Left. "I slowly began to read Ambedkar and understood how deep-rooted caste was in Indian society. That's also when I understood that communism may have removed religion, but the caste divide still existed. Even today, if you see any Dalit parliamentarians, it is only because of reservation," she says. [6] She identifies herself as a Dalit feminist. [6]

Following the suicide of a Dalit student at the University of Hyderabad, Rohith Vemula, Gogu Shyamala made several statements in support of Vemula and his family, calling for greater participation from the English media on questions of caste and feminism. [7]

She represented Anveshi and Dalit Women’s Forum in the World Conference against Racism held in Durban in 2001. She is a member of the Anveshi Executive Committee. Her current work at the Anveshi Centre for Women's Studies focuses on creating biographies of significant Dalit female political leaders. She is presently leading an Oxfam funded research project on domestic violence and dalit women.[ citation needed ]

Writing

A review of some of her stories in translation described Gogu Shyamala's writing as having "an evidently oral quality," which created detailed and authentic portraits of the people and situations she describes. [8] This "oral quality" has been described as "the most striking thing" about her collection of short stories, Father May Be An Elephant And Mother Only A Small Basket, But... [9] which is a landmark in Telangana dalit literature in translation. [10] This was part of her work on a project titled ‘Dalit Women’s Biographies,(movement perspective of Dalit feminism)  This project is part of the Dalits and Minorities Initiative. Her earlier volume Nallapoddu (Black Dawn) is a collection of Telangana Madiga poetry and literature that has one critical acclaim in literary circles.  Shyamala is a prolific short story writer, and regularly publishes in journals such as Bhumika, Prasthanam, Pratighatana, Mana Telangana, Praja Kala Mandali and Nigha. [11]

Bibliography

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Edited Volumes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gail Omvedt</span> American-born Indian sociologist (1941–2021)

Gail Omvedt was an American-born Indian sociologist and human rights activist. She was a prolific writer and published numerous books on the anti-caste movement, Dalit politics, and women's struggles in India. Omvedt was involved in Dalit and anti-caste movements, environmental, farmers' and women's movements, especially with rural women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalit Panthers</span> Social organization

The Dalit Panthers are an Ambedkarite social organisation that seeks to combat caste discrimination. The organisation was founded by Namdeo Dhasal, Arjun Dangle, Raja Dhale and J. V. Pawar on 29 May 1972 in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The movement's heyday lasted from the 1970s through the 1980s, and it was later joined by many Dalit-Buddhist activists.

Dalit literature is literature written by Dalits about their lives. Dalit literature emerged in the 1960s in the Marathi language, and it soon appeared in Bangla, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, sindhi, and Tamil languages, through narratives such as poems, short stories, and autobiographies, which stood out due to their stark portrayal of reality and the Dalit political scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharmila Rege</span> Indian sociologist

Sharmila Rege was an Indian sociologist, feminist scholar and author of Writing Caste, Writing Gender. She led the Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women's Studies Centre, at University of Pune which position she occupied since 1991. She received the Malcolm Adiseshiah award for distinguished contribution to development studies from the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navayana (publishing house)</span>

Navayana is an independent anti-caste Indian publishing house based in New Delhi, strongly influenced by Ambedkarite ideas. It was founded by S. Anand and D. Ravikumar in 2003. The first book it published was Ambedkar: Autobiographical Notes priced at Rs 40. Since then it has published acclaimed fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels and poetry anthologies. From 2009 onwards, Navayana broadened its publishing outlook to include social issues other than caste because ‘the struggle against caste cannot happen in isolation from other struggles for justice and equality’ as a statement on the website reads.

Susie Tharu is an Indian writer, publisher, professor, editor and women's activist. Throughout her career and the founding of several women's activist organizations, Tharu has helped to highlight those issues in India.

Kusuma Satyanarayana is an Indian scholar, editor and anti-caste activist. He is a Professor in the Department of Cultural Studies, English and Foreign Languages University (EFL-U), Hyderabad, and concentrates in the burgeoning field of Dalit studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siddalingaiah (poet)</span> Indian poet (1954–2021)

Siddalingaiah, was an Indian poet, playwright, and Dalit activist, writing in the Kannada language. He is credited with starting the Dalit-Bandaya movement in Kannada and with starting the genre of Dalit writing. He is one of the founders of the Dalita Sangharsh Samiti along with B. Krishnappa.

Dalit studies is a new field of research in India which looks at the problem of marginalised groups, namely Dalits, tribals, religious minorities, women from excluded groups, denotified tribes, physically challenged and similar groups in economic, social and political spheres. Dalit studies scholars also undertake research on the nature and forms of discrimination and social exclusion faced by marginalised groups.

P.Sivakami is an Indian Dalit-Feminist writer, former IAS officer and activist predominantly writing in Tamil. Her notable works include Pazhayana Kazhidalum, Kurruku Vettu, Nalum Thodarum and Kadaisi Mandhar. Apart from being one of the most prominent Dalit novelists in India, she has also constantly voiced her opinions on contemporary social and political issues. An author of six novels and more than 60 short stories. P. Sivakami has regularly kept in touch with editing and has actively contributed to the monthly magazine Puthiya Kodangi since 1995. She is a significant presence on social media through her Twitter account.

Madara Chennaiah was an 11th-century Kannada vachana poet and saint who was a cobbler by profession. He is widely regarded as the first Vachanakara in India who lived in the reign of Western Chalukyas.

Raj Gauthaman is a leading Tamil intellectual who pioneered new approaches to Tamil cultural and literary history studies in the late 20th century. He has authored twenty research works that analyze the development of Tamil culture from ancient to modern periods with a focus on subaltern Dalit perspectives. He has also written three novels and translated Sanskrit works into Tamil. Raj Gauthaman was a part of the core group of writers and thinkers, many of whom were Dalits, which shaped the thinking of the influential journal, Nirapirikai in the early 1990s. He worked in academia before retiring in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravikumar (writer)</span> Indian politician

D. Ravikumar is an Indian Tamil intellectual, writer, lawyer politician and an anti-caste activist. He was the editor of the magazine, Nirapirikai. Nirapirikai inspired several new writers in the 1990s in Tamil Nadu. He is an Ambedkarite. Ravikumar is the current Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Viluppuram and member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aravind Malagatti</span> Indian Kannada poet, critic

Aravind Malagatti is a prominent Indian poet and writer in Kannada-language. He is the author of more than forty books which include poetry collections, short fiction collections, a novel, essay-collections, critical works and folklore studies. He is the recipient of the prestigious Ambedkar Fellowship Award from the Government of Karnataka. His Government Brahamana, the first Dalit autobiography in Kannada, has won the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award. Apart from these, the Honorary Award of Karnataka Sahitya Academy was conferred on him for his total contribution to Kannada literature. He is appointed as Chairman for Kannada Sahitya Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. Krishnappa</span> Indian academic, social activist

Prof. Basappa Krishnappa (1938–1997) was one of the pioneers of the Dalit literary movement in Kannada and the founder president of Dalit Sangarsha Samiti, later it is named as the radical Dalit advocacy group. He taught at the Sir M. Vishweshwariah College in Bhadravathi for thirty years before retiring as principal. He is acknowledged as an important literary critic in Kannada.

H. Govindaiah is a prominent Dalit poet writing in Kannada. He was associated with Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) and was the publisher of Panchama, a fortnightly magazine of DSS for ten years until 1985. He has worked as a lecturer at Mysore University and the Karnataka Open University and was Deputy Registrar of the latter for two years.

Rohith Chakravarti Vemula was an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad. From July 2015, the university stopped paying Rohith his monthly stipend of ₹25,000, with friends alleging that he was targeted for raising issues on campus under the banner of Ambedkar Students' Association (ASA), an Ambedkarite student organization.

Sanghapali Aruna, also known as Sanghapali Aruna Lohitakshi, is a human rights activist from India, best known for her work on Dalit women's rights. She is the Executive Director of Project Mukti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalit feminism</span>

Dalit feminism is a feminist perspective that includes questioning caste and gender roles among the Dalit population and within feminism and the larger women's movement. Dalit women primarily live in South Asia, mainly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Dalit women face different challenges than women in oppressor castes in these countries. They are more likely to be poor, uneducated and socially marginalized. Dalit feminists advocate and have advocated for equal rights for Dalit women based on gender, caste and other issues. They have addressed conferences, created organizations and helped elect other Dalit women into political office.

Radhika Vemula is an Indian activist for Dalit rights and against caste based discrimination.

References

  1. ↑ "Book Review | Twists in the old tales". 2 March 2012.
  2. ↑ "First impressions by the second sex". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 3 January 2013.
  3. ↑ "Osmania University Beef Festival sparks violence, 2 vehicles torched | Hyderabad News". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 30 May 2012.
  4. ↑ Tharu, Susie; K, Satyanarayana (2013). Steel nibs are sprouting: New Dalit writing from South India. India: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN   9789350293768.
  5. ↑ Susie Tharu/ K. Satyanarayana (31 July 2013). STEEL NIBS ARE SPROUTING: New Dalit Writing From South India. HarperCollins Publishers India. pp. 1–. ISBN   978-93-5029-542-7.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 B, Nitin (9 April 2016). "For Gogu Shyamala, being Dalit and woman is survival, beyond victimhood and outside of it". The News Minute.com. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Seven Questions with Gogu Shyamala about Radhika Vemula, Solidarity and Dalit Rights". The Ladies Finger. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "Book review: 'Father May Be An Elephant And Mother Only A Small Basket But...' | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 17 June 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  9. ↑ "Navayana | Father May Be an Elephant and Mother Only a Small Basket, But…" . Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  10. ↑ "Book Review | Twists in the old tales - Livemint". www.livemint.com. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  11. ↑ "Gogu Shyamala". www.anveshi.org.in. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  12. ↑ "The Other India - Indian Express".
  13. ↑ "Stories from the margins". The Hindu . 19 April 2009. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.