Valan studies the representations of caste in regional and English-language writing. The current focus of the work is on non-Brahmin characters in fiction between 1870 and 1940, situated in regions within and around modern-day Tamil Nadu. Valan seeks to situate these texts within the anti-caste rhetoric of Iyothee Thass and Periyar E. V. Ramaswami. The long-term agenda of this research is to contribute to a register of public language that would facilitate introspective dialogue within caste networks.
