Ex Oriente Lux 2021

67 Соловьева Антонина Санкт-Петербургский Государственный университет, Восточный факультет “ADIVASI WILL NOT DANCE” — THE FIRST ENGLISH- LANGUAGE SANTALI SHORT-STORY COLLECTION The Adivasi (hind. Ādivāsī) are a tribal population of India who consider them- selves the first inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent. Adivasi literature has a very ancient history, most of which has existed exclusively in oral form, in the form of songs and devotions. Adivasi literature began to take its modern form only in the middle of the twentieth century. The impetus for the development of modern written Adivasi literature was the desire to respond to the outside world, which was increas- ingly disrupting for the tribal world order, and to make its voice heard. "Adivasi Will Not Dance" is a collection of short stories by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, a writer originally from the Santal tribe. This collection is of special sig- nificance because it is the first work of Santal literature written in English and actu- ally introduced the Santals to the literary world. In ten stories the author shows the everyday life of the Santal, from the poorest and most disadvantaged to the well-to- do and educated, who seemingly are not discriminated against. Shekhar shows how each of the above-mentioned problems of Santal society affects its individual mem- bers, and also reveals to us new and hitherto unexplored facets of tribal society.