Marginalized Narratives and Resistance in Contemporary Tamil Literature: A Comparative Analysis of Perumal Murugan's "Seasons of the Palm" and Meena Kandasamy's "The Gypsy Goddess"

Abstract

In the rich landscape of contemporary Tamil literature, two distinctive voices emerge with powerful stories of resistance and marginalization. Perumal Murugan's "Seasons of the Palm" offers an intimate portrait of a young Dalit bonded laborer through naturalistic prose, while Meena Kandasamy's "The Gypsy Goddess" reconstructs a historical massacre using experimental narrative techniques. Despite their contrasting approaches, both authors successfully challenge dominant narratives and amplify historically silenced communities in modern Indian literature. This research explores how their divergent literary techniques serve a common purpose: to illuminate the persistent realities of caste oppression and celebrate the enduring spirit of resistance in Tamil Nadu.