The Vulgarity of Caste: Dalits | Sexuality | and Humanity in Modern India

Tamasha is a secular | traveling | public theatre practiced predominantly by Dalits for centuries. The artform spread like a wildfire in the entertainment market in colonial Maharashtra. Its mixture of humor | sexuality | and bombast offered a forbidding combination of the commercial and the lowbrow. Central to these performances were the Dalit Tamasha women who represented both the desire and disgust of a patriarchal society. The Vulgarity of Caste offers the first social and intellectual history of Tamasha. Drawing on untapped archival materials | ethnographies | popular writings and films | Shailaja Paik uncovers how Dalit performers | activists | and leaders negotiated the violence | brutality | exploitation and stigma in Tamasha. She puts these women at the center | as they reclaim manuski (human dignity) and transform themselves from ashlil (vulgar) to assli (authentic) and manus (human).