Aesthetics of Dalit Theatre: Perspectives on Caste, Class and Gender

Since Dalit theatre has not garnered as much recognition as the other genres of Dalit literature have, this book, being one of the pioneering works in the field, aims to highlight the genre within the framework of Dalit literature and the Dalit Movement in India. The discussion extensively delves into the historical background, context and aesthetics of Dalit drama and theatre from epistemological viewpoints. To illustrate the subtleties of caste, class and gender in the pan-Indian scenario, the book includes textual understandings of specific Dalit plays, available in English translation, originally written in Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali, covering diverse regions of India. The inclusion of full-length interviews, conducted by the author, of all the living playwrights whose texts have been taken up for analysis, is another substantial facet of this study.

Shubhendu Shekhar Naskar is Assistant Professor in the Department of English Literature, Language and Cultural Studies at Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, India, and a Charles Wallace Scholar. He has been engaged in extensive research on Dalit and Tribal Studies and contributed articles in various national and international books and journals. He holds the position of series editor of the book series Theatre of the Marginalised: Dalit and Adivasi Performance Traditions in South Asia.