Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit
| Author | Manoranjan Byapari |
|---|---|
| Original title | Itibritte Chandal Jivan (2014) |
| Translator | Sipra Mukherjee |
| Language | English (translated), Bengali (original) |
| Subject | Autobiography, Dalit experience, caste |
| Genre | Memoir, autobiography |
| Published | 2018 |
| Publisher | Sage Publications India |
| Publication place | India |
| Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) |
| Pages | 357 |
| ISBN | 978-93-813-4530-6 |
Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit is an autiobiography by Indian dalit writer and activist Manoranjan Byapari. The original work in Bengali was titled Itibritte Chandal Jivan and published in 2014, followed by its English translation by Sipra Mukherjee in 2018 by Sage Publishing. The book chronicles the experience of being a Dalit from Namashudra or Chandal community of Bengal in the post-partition India.[1][2][3] It is considered to be the first autobiography by a Bengali dalit.[4]
The memoir presents an intersectional account of dalit struggle and poverty, especially in the context of post-partition India when Bengal was partitioned into East Bengal and West Bengal.[5] Uma Mahadevan-Dasgupta writing for The Hindu noted the simplicity of prose but "dense with memories, ... [that] it gives the sense that more is left unsaid."[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Chakraborty, Debdatta; Banerjee, Sarbani (2025-05-04). ""I am not anyone's servant. I am my own master": In conversation with Manoranjan Byapari". Journal of Postcolonial Writing. 61 (3): 413–424. doi:10.1080/17449855.2025.2463056.
- ^ Mondal, Arijit; Jana, Ujjwal (2023-02-24). "Mapping the Poetics of Memory: A Critical Reading of Manoranjan Byapari's Interrogating My Chandal Life as Cultural Archive". Contemporary Voice of Dalit. doi:10.1177/2455328X221150558.
- ^ "Interrogating My Chandal Life: ইতিবৃত্তে চণ্ডালজীবন | Concealing Caste: Narratives of Passing and Personhood in Dalit Literature | Oxford Academic". academic.oup.com. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad; Pal, Bidisha (2018-05-06). "Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit by Manoranjan Byapari, translated by Sipra Mukherjee". Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities. 10 (2). doi:10.21659/rupkatha.v10n2.27.
- ^ a b Mahadevan-Dasgupta, Uma (2018-10-20). "Uma Mahadevan-Dasgupta reviews Interrogating My Chandal Life by Manoranjan Byapari". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
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