Raj Gauthaman
Raj Gauthaman | |
|---|---|
| Native name | ராஜ் கௌதமன் |
| Born | 14 February (or) 25 August 1950 W. Pudupatti, composite Ramanathapuram district, Madras State (now Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu), India |
| Died | 13 November 2024 (aged 74) Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation | Writer, Cultural critic, Historian, Academic |
| Language | Tamil |
| Alma mater | Annamalai University |
| Genre | Cultural criticism, History, Literary theory |
| Subject | Tamil culture, Dalit studies, Subaltern historiography |
| Literary movement | Tamil Dalit Movement |
| Years active | 1980s–2024 |
| Spouse | K. Parimala |
| Children | Nivedha |
| Relatives | Bama (younger sister) |
Susairaj Pushparaj (14 February / 25 August 1950 – 13 November 2024), known as Raj Gauthaman, was an Indian Tamil intellectual who pioneered new approaches to Tamil cultural and literary history studies in the late 20th century. He authored 20 research works that analyse the development of Tamil culture from ancient to modern periods with a focus on subaltern Dalit perspectives. He also wrote three novels and translated Sanskrit works into Tamil. Raj Gauthaman was a part of the core group of writers and thinkers, many of whom were Dalits, which shaped the thinking of the influential journal, Nirapirikai in the early 1990s. He worked in academia before retiring in 2011.
Gauthaman was awarded the Pudhumaipithan Ninaivu Virudhu by the Canadian and American Tamil diaspora in 2018. He was awarded the Vishnupuram Award for 2018 by the Vishnupuram Ilakkiya Vattam for his significant contributions to the Tamil literary and cultural domain.