Indian Books
BLACK LILIES: TELUGU DALIT POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Dalit poetry in Telugu, as in the other Indian languages, passed through three phases: written about, writing themselves and writing about the dependent Dalit castes. Each phase, generating newer genres and styles, influenced the mainstream writing.
Dalit poetry in Telugu, as in the other Indian languages, passed through three phases: written about, writing themselves and writing about the dependent Dalit castes. Each phase, generating newer genres and styles, influenced the mainstream writing.
In the entire history of Telugu literature, Dalits have never been written about positively except by the medieval mystics – Potuluri Veerabrahmam, a sudra social reformer and Yogi Vemana, a non-brahmin-both of whom questioned social evils. However, the nineteenth century social reform and twentieth century nationalist poetry, though both dealt with untouchability, suffer from the limitation of silence on the religious sanctity of caste.