In the subsequent period, dalits began writing about themselves especially during the nationalist movement. However, it should be noted that the dalits were written about during this period by non-dalits. Other noteworthy writers like Gurajaada Apparao and a few o thers too dealt with the same subjects. Another significant writer in this lineage was the saint poet, Yogi Vemana, a non-brahmin, who wrote simple verse on various forms of superstitions and evil practices including caste and untouchability. A tradition thus started, continued at different periods of Andhra Pradesh’s history.
Hymns written and sung by him and his disciples were popular among the illiterate dalits. It may be traced back to the 17th century saint poet Potuluri Veerabrahmam,1 a sudra social reformer who used to go through dalit wadas (settlements) educating the people against caste and untouchability. While oral Telugu literature dates back 1,500 years, written Telugu dalit literature goes back hardly 300 years though it was not necessarily known by the same nomenclature. Having been neglected even in modern historiography, dalits began to represent themselves through different forms of literature. This has caused irreparable loss to productive technology. Despite being from the productive castes, they were illiterate and could not themselves record the innovations and experiences of their occupations. He rich heritage of dalits as a community has been left unrecorded except for a number of negative comments in Sanskrit epics and plays. K Purushotham is with the Kakatiya University, Warangal, Andhra Pradesh. Telugu dalit writing would have truly come of age when even these castes – the ostracised among the ostracised – begin writing about themselves. This group also writes about the “satellite castes” who are considered untouchable even by the Madigas. Madigas are placed so low in the hierarchy that the term is considered an abuse and its usage can attract the provisions of the Atrocities Act. Writers of the Dandora movement, for example, who belong to the Madiga caste, have begun adding the caste name to their surnames, a practice hitherto followed only by the upper castes. From the mid-1980s, however, dalit angst, protest and an alternative vision started reflecting in Telugu literature. During the independence struggle, dalit writers, under Gandhian influence, touched upon casteism and untouchability but imitated mainstream writing in form and content. K Purushotham Telugu dalit literature entered a significant phase when dalits began writing about themselves. SPECIAL ARTICLE Evolution of Telugu Dalit Literature
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