Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Kerala’s social sphere is well-stocked with the elements of modernity like literacy, democracy, equality and fraternity, which makes it difficult to identify and classify casteism and its effects. The projected image of modernity makes Kerala’s public sphere more accessible and permissible to minority groups when compared to other states. The state’s emergence after independence manifests through its learning and employment institutions. These motifs of development camouflage the existing casteism present in the state, thus making it invisible. Here, Dalit literature becomes pivotal as it becomes a storehouse of implicit caste references and stereotyping, which the statistics often fail to see. The article puts into perspective two Dalit short stories, ‘Mea Culpa’ and ‘Karthik Immanuel’s Spiritual Musings’ written by Raju K. Vasu and Prince Aymenem, respectively. They represent a public sphere where no explicit casteism occurs, whereas its repercussions are nevertheless felt. The stories showcase how micro-level manifestations of casteism occur, which are neither identified nor quantified. Taking the concept of microaggression proposed by Psychologist Derald Wing Sue, the research attempts to do a narrative analysis of the primary texts, delving deep into the invisible but pervading casteism.

Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Christianity has always been celebrated as a catalyst towards modernity for the Dalits of Kerala. Though missionary accounts and ethnographic studies confirm the progress of the community, there was rampant casteism and separatism too. This is succinctly revealed in Dalit Christian texts. Pulayathara by Paul Chirakkarode stands as a testimony to the Dalit Christian dilemma and traces the history of the Kuttanadan Pulaya community in the pre- and post-conversion scenarios. Conversions could not change the existing public sphere of Kerala, where upper castes were the dominant party. They (Dalits) continued to be marginalized and subordinated and lacked a class consciousness. The article highlights the limitations in the public sphere that emerged in Kerala as part of the missionary endeavours in accommodating the converted Dalits. The article attempts to trace the emergence of subaltern counterpublics among the Dalit Christians to oppose the continued oppression and casteism by situating Pulayathara at the centre of the analysis.

Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Kerala has a long-standing history of Christianity as well as conversions. Conversions can be dated back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which saw a large number of slave caste conversions. For the slave castes of Kerala—Pulayas and Parayas—Christianity offered a salvation from the circle of pollution. Scriptures provided the slave castes new vistas of knowledge which they encultured to form a counter discourse against the public sphere set up by the dominant castes. The public sphere of the Malayalee psyche was formed by the ideas of caste pollution, which restricted the slave castes from accessing the social space. A new Dalit perspective on the religious consciousness of the converted Christians will show the role of the Bible, Original Sin, and Repentance on their daily lives. Dalit Christian literature becomes the primary source where Christianity metamorphoses into an oppositional force in resisting oppression as well as in creating a social space with agency.