Ethnic Concern and Gender Disparity in Meena Kandasamy’s The Gypsy Goddess

Abstract

Meena Kandasammy’s debut novel The Gypsy Goddess, published in 2014, brings out the traumatic experience behind the massacre of Kilvenmani which was the result of collective struggle for freedom by Dalit agricultural labourers community at Tanjore district in Tamilnadu. Her novel projects the undying will and incessant struggle of the marginalized for freedom and their relentless resistance against oppression. This paper attempts to discuss the prevailing problem of the marginalized and delineates the doubly marginalized Dalit women also. The paper focuses on the ethnic concern of the writer with special attention on the gruesome treatment of Dalit women. The existing caste oppression and Dalit’s brave resistance with resilience are discussed in this paper. The paper analyzes the pervading national consciousness in Meena Kandasamy’s novel The Gypsy Goddess, who through her writing tries to bring out the issues and challenges of Dalit, prevailing in pre and post India and thus create awareness to the nation.