Subaltern Voices and Cultural Memory in Mammang Dai’s "The Legend of Pensam"

This paper interprets The Legend of Pensam, a novel written by Mammang Dai which seamlessly incorporates the folktales, values and history with modern life of the Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The works aims at recollecting memories of the past and incorporating them in today’s era. The concept of "Pensam" portrays Adi people's love for both the soul and the body while also portraying the material realm. Through this concept of Pensam, which in Adi language means in – between, which portrays a life with lingering equilibrium between living and spiritual, the author explains the intertwined existence of tangible and intangible in Adi culture. The Research paper will describe the consequences of national politics and globalization while attempting to protect the native culture. Highly involving storytelling from Dai, where we can see tribal and modern identities as well as the power of the oral book, which are all interwoven in the narrative. Finally, the paper attempts to add on to the ongoing discussions in relation to indigenous Indian literature. the text initiates with the protagonist pondering over her identity and the interference of modernity to their life. The analysis explores Dai’s captivating narrative and culture, which allows people to supplement the fragmented story of a tribe and the relevance of oral tradition to understand the diverse tribal identity. The breathtaking fusion of myth and history into Dai’s plots is also eloquently described. Further, the study contrasts between the various social and political changes and the globalization that would result in the alteration of the indigenous culture to some degree and studies in detail how the novel redresses this concern.