The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust Established in 1932 by Sir Dorabji Tata
The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust Established in 1932 by Sir Dorabji Tata
Publications supported by the Trust
Learning and Embodying Caste, Class and Gender Patterns of Childhood in Rural Tamil Nadu by Gabriele Alex
ISBN 978-93-80431-01-7
Published by National Folklore Support Centre, Chennai
This book is based on ethnographic research carried out mainly among children and youths of different status groups in a rural low caste village in the Tañcāvūr district in Tamil Nadu, South India. It takes a new approach by investigating the phase of pre-adulthood under the heading of the classical anthropological themes, but also by making children informants and contrasting their viewpoints to those of their parents and grandparents generation. It adds a new perspective on the current debates on children and childhood in South Asia by providing an ethnographic study thus offering an emic perspective on the concepts and life worlds of Tamil children. By this means Western categories and assumptions on what childhood is and how it should be are questioned and challenged. Emphasising the fact that, depending on factors such as caste and class, gender and ethnicity there are many childhoods, these specific ethnographic insights deconstruct ideas of a pan Indian model of childhood.
Glossary, References and Literature, Index xii + 207 pages, Rs. 400 (India) / US $15 (Other countries)
The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust Established in 1932 by Sir Dorabji Tata
Over one hundred students are selected every year as J N Tata Scholars from all over India. They have included many prominent academics, scientists, economists and scholars in the past such as K R Narayanan the former President of India and Dr Jayant Narlikar, the eminent astro-physicist
This book is based on ethnographic research carried out mainly among children and youths of different status groups in a rural low caste village in the Tañcāvūr district in Tamil Nadu, South India. It takes a new approach by investigating the phase of pre-adulthood under the heading of the classical anthropological themes, but also by making children informants and contrasting their viewpoints to those of their parents and grandparents generation. It adds a new perspective on the current debates on children and childhood in South Asia by providing an ethnographic study thus offering an emic perspective on the concepts and life worlds of Tamil children. By this means Western categories and assumptions on what childhood is and how it should be are questioned and challenged. Emphasising the fact that, depending on factors such as caste and class, gender and ethnicity there are many childhoods, these specific ethnographic insights deconstruct ideas of a pan Indian model of childhood.
