Suffering, Resistance and Freedom

Overview

In this book, Selva Rathinam, S.J., applies concepts of the postcolonial method to interpret the text of the last Servant Song from the point of view of the Dalits, the subaltern oppressed people of India. Through the "otherness," "subalternity," and "hybridity," defined by Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak and Homi K. Bhabha respectively, Fr. Rathinam interprets the resistance of the Servant before the oppressors who finally confront their past and repent. Thus, he argues, the redemptive value, lies not in the innocent suffering but in what goes on in and between the oppressor and the oppressed.