The Gender of Caste: Representing Dalits in Print

by Charu Gupta, K. Sivaramakrishnan (Series Editor), Anand A. Yang (Series Editor)

Caste and gender are complex markers of difference that have traditionally been addressed in isolation from each other, with a presumptive maleness present in most studies of Dalits ("untouchables") and a presumptive upper-casteness in many feminist studies. In this study of the representations of Dalits in the print culture of colonial north India, Charu Gupta enters new territory by looking at images of Dalit women as both victims and vamps, the construction of Dalit masculinities, religious conversion as an alternative to entrapment in the Hindu caste system, and the plight of indentured labor.

The Gender of Caste uses print as a critical tool to examine the depictions of Dalits by colonizers, nationalists, reformers, and Dalits themselves and shows how differentials of gender were critical in structuring patterns of domination and subordination.

Genres: India, Gender

352 pages, Paperback

Published October 23, 2018

Reviews

[Marsha Altman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for graduate school. Has a slow start, eventually picks up in chapters about Dalit women converting to Christianity or moving abroad to escape the caste system.

[Jessica Zu · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing. super important.

[Akhil Kang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always impressed with and stunned by well written books by historians. There is so much wealth of knowledge in this book! Each chapter could be a book!

[Anita]

interesting book..thank you goodreads

[daniel dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read several chapters, but would recommend the whole thing for people more closelyy aligned with the author's specific context.