Tradition, Transgression and Transition in Neela Padmanabhan’s Generations

Abstract

This study discusses Neela Padmanabhan’s novel Generations, (Thalaimuraigal) as a critical literary document of social transformation of a mid-20th century Tamil Chetti community. It examines the complex processes of interaction between the tradition rooted deep in history and transgression through individual and collective actors and transformation of society which ensued in particular through the effects of impinging and intersected processes of gender and caste. This analysis employs an inter-disciplinary framework, integrating three key lenses: a postcolonial and subaltern studies approach, which examines internal social hierarchies; a feminist critique, which deconstructs patriarchal control over women’s bodies and fates; and an intersectional analysis, which interrogates the characters’ compounded experiences of marginalization. Key findings include revelation of traditional customs especially regarding marriage, dowry and widowhood is systematically misused to impose conformity and keep caste purity as in the ordeal of characters such as Nagu Akka and Nilapillai. In response, transgression comes to be perceived not as simple action of deviance, but as an instrument of justice that was necessary and visible in Diravi’s transformation of his ideological position from that of an observer to the modern intervener and in the cross caste solidarity in Kuttalam. The story highlights the fact that true social change is not some linear, externally-driven and often tragic process subject to simple notions of movement. The research concludes that the novel Generations, is an important microcosm of the evolution of society in the Global South.