"Painted Words: An Anthology of Tribal Literature" (English, 2002); Edited by G.N. Devy. Overview
Published by Purva Prakash, Vadodara, Gujarat
An authorized digital copy of this book can be found here.
This anthology takes a largely ethnographic approach, organized around literary genres (Myth, Epic, Legend, Songs, Lyric, and Autobiography) rather than individual authorship. The editor is an established and well-respected scholar, associated with important Adivasi institutions including the Adivasi Academy and the Bhasha Research Centre.
Devy is also circumspect about his status as a non-Adivasi scholar editing a collection of Adivasi writing, as he indicates here:
Whatever else be the merit of this book, it certainly is not an attempt to ‘speak for’ the marginalized languages. I have no desire to be romantic about tribal literature. Human languages (even those without scripts) and linguistic creativity (even when it is not a
commodity in the arts market) simply deserve greater respect. My modest intention in preparing this volume is to share with the general literary community the joy and excitement I have experienced while working in tribal villages. I have read some of these pieces with my students at the Adivasi Academy in Tejgadh, and have seen them respond as genuinely and profoundly as I have seen other students respond to printed or written literature at the Baroda University. Only the conventions of the tribal imagination are different; and of course these should not be essentialized, only identified.
To our eye, the most helpful section might be the Autobiography extracts, in part because they are given individual authorship.
Table of Contents:
Creation 1-7
Binti 3
Myth 9-60
From the Bhilli Mahabharat 13
From the Kunkana Ramayan 37
Epic 61-94
From Manteswamy 65
From Male Madeshwara 77
Legend 95-130
Tejan Bal 99
The Tale of a Takalong Cucumber 111
Chhura 117
Kaba and Baji 126
Lyric 131-155
Garhwali Songs 135
Chhattisgarhi Songs 138
Saora Songs 143
Krud Ksing Songs 148
Garo Songs 151
Songs of Birth and Death 153
Autobiography 157-241
From Koletyache Por, by Kishore Shantabai Kale 161
From Upara, by Laxman Mane 180
From Tanda, by Atmaram Kaniram Rathod 196
From Uchalya, by Laxman Gaikwad 224
Drama 243-273
Budhan 245
Appendix: A Vision of Tribal India 273-289
Makar Savar, by Mahasveta Devi 275