Bama (author)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bama , full name Bama Faustina Soosairaj (born in 1958 as Faustina Mary Fatima Rani ) is an Indian feminist and author . She was best known for her autobiographical novel Karukku , in which, among other things, she addresses the life situation of the Dalit . In addition to novels, she also published collections of short stories. She writes in the Tamil language and some of her works have been translated into English and French .

life and work

Bama grew up in a small village, Puthupatti , in Tamil Nadu in a Christian Dalit family. As a member of the Dalit, she suffered poverty , discrimination and has repeatedly witnessed violence against Dalits. Still, she describes her childhood as happy. Her older brother got her excited about reading and introduced her to tamil literature, especially Jayakantan , Akilan and Na. Parthasarathy in touch. During her college years , she became enthusiastic about the works of Khalil Gibran and Rabindranath Tagore . She began to write poetry herself .

After completing college, she first worked as a teacher . At the age of 26 she decided to become a nun and join an order . In this way she wanted to leave the limitations of the caste system behind her and hoped to be able to better help poor children of the Dalit. After seven years, Bama left the religious community in 1992. Her family expected that she would get married and have a family. Bama found this time to be very difficult for himself and complained a lot, including the loss of the happy days of childhood. This prompted a friend to advise him to write down this period - the impetus for the beginning of Bama's writing career. In addition to writing, Bama also resumed teaching.

Her first book, Karukku , attracted considerable attention when it was published. Many Dalit initially saw themselves portrayed in a negative way, but the younger generation in particular understood what they wanted to show with this type of portrayal and paid them respect. Other readers criticized their writing style and language as not "beautiful" enough and may not be comfortable with their choice of subjects. After it was first published, Bama mainly wrote shorter texts that were published in anthologies. The aim of her writing is to take action against the injustice in the world, especially if it is directed against the Dalit. She herself says that she represents feminist standpoints, especially Dalit feminism, especially in the novels Sangati and Manushi and in some short stories.

In 2000, Bama won the Crossword Book Award with Karukku .

reception

Voices to Karukku:

“What I loved the most about the book is how Bama writes an honest, vulnerable version of herself in it. Its nuance is incredible, as she describes not only her experiences as Dalit and a woman, but also the loneliness of her everyday life. "

“What I love most about this book is the way Bama describes an honest, vulnerable version of herself. The nuances are incredible, she not only describes her own experiences as a Dalit and as a woman, but also the loneliness of her everyday life. "

- Amala Dasarathi : 'Karukku': An Autobiography By Bama Exploring Her Tamil, Dalit And Christian Identity

"Bama captures a moment that contains a paradox: she seeks an identity, but seeks a change which means an end to that identity."

"Bama captures a moment that contains a paradox: she is looking for an identity, but is looking for a change that means an end to this identity"

- Lakshmi Holmstrom : Introduction to Karukku

Works

  • Karukku , Roman, 1992
  • Sangati , Roman, 1994
  • Kusumbukkaran , Short Stories 1996
  • Vanmam , Roman, 2002
  • Oru Tattvum Erumaiyum , short stories, 2003
  • Manushi , Roman, 2011

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ (PDF) Interview with Bama. Retrieved February 20, 2019 .
  2. ^ The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - HER WORLD. Retrieved February 19, 2019 .
  3. ^ THE HARD BUSINESS OF LIFE - Writer, teacher, woman, Christian, Tamil and Dalit. Retrieved February 19, 2019 .
  4. ↑ On a wing and a prayer: Tamil Dalit writer Bama on 25 years of Karukku. In: The Indian Express. January 21, 2018, accessed February 20, 2019 (en-IN).
  5. ^ The Hindu: Tales of an epic struggle. Retrieved February 19, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Karukku Bama book review. In: Feminism India. February 20, 2017, accessed on February 20, 2019 (en-IN).
  7. ↑ Introduction to Karukku. April 23, 2001, accessed March 11, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Bama
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bama Faustina Soosairaj, Faustina Mary Fatima Rani
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian feminist and author
DATE OF BIRTH 1958