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J. Devika

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J. Devika
Born6 May 1968 (1968-05-06) (age 56)
Kollam, Kerala, India[1]
OccupationProfessor
GenreWomen's studies, sociology, history
Literary movementFeminism
Notable worksKulasthreeyum Chanthappennum Undayathengane
Website
swatantryavaadini.in

Jayakumari Devika (Malayalam: ജെ. ദേവിക, born 6 May 1968) is a Malayali historian, feminist, social critic and academic from Kerala.[2] She currently researches and teaches at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram as a professor.[3] She has authored several books and articles on gender relations in early Kerala society.[4] She is bilingual and has translated both fiction and non-fiction books between Malayalam and English. She also writes on gender, politics, social reforms and development in Kerala on publications like Kafila, Economic and Political Weekly and The Wire.[5]

Education

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Devika did her Master of Arts in Modern History (1991) from Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and obtained her Ph.D. in history from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam.[3]

Writings

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Devika's early research was about the emergence of modern binary gender as a language of describing society and social change in the early twentieth century in Kerala. In her later writings, she has followed the gendering of development in Kerala through a history of public consent for contraception between the 1930s and 1970. She has also published translations of writings by first-generation feminists in Kerala in the book Her Self: Early Writings on Gender by Malayalee Women 1898-1938.[6][7] In her later research, Devika explores contemporary political and social issues through a historical lens and her concerns are wider than gender, and rather, focus on intersectional power. Her later books have been about gender and politics in twentieth century Kerala, and about the gendered history of the Malayali literary public.[8]

She has published an introduction to feminist theory that places it within the history of modern western thought, titled Streevadam, and published in 2000. In her book Kulasthreeyum Chanthappennum Undaayathengine? she gives an alternative reading of Kerala history from the feminist perspective. She traces Kerala's social and political history and providing interesting insights. For example, she explains how dress code of saree and dowry became prevalent in Kerala. The Hindu reports in their review "Authored by J. Devika, Associate Professor at the CDS, the book is an incisive take on the invisible spaces to which women have been consigned in conventional history and reaches out to the silent depths where women's powerful actions and articulations of the past lay buried. The book, an attempt to centre-stage women in Kerala history, looks how false notions about women got reinforced in the public mind because of the accounts in the "neutral" history texts, how freedom has eluded Kerala women despite their high educational entitlements and what role they have played in major historical junctures.".[9] Her work in this area also includes the 2007 book Engendering Individuals: The Language of Re-Forming in Early Twentieth Century Keralam,[10] and the 2008 book Individuals, Householders, Citizens: Malayalis and Family Planning, 1930–1970.[11]

Devika has translated number of books from Malayalam to English. Notable among them are the translation of Nalini Jameela's autobiography[12] and the short stories of K. R. Meera[13][14][15] and Sarah Joseph. She also translated the well acclaimed Malayalam novel, Arrachar by K. R. Meera into English as Hangwoman in 2014.[8][16] In 2017, She translated the Malayalam novel, Enmakaje by Ambikasuthan Mangad into English as Swarga.[17][18]

She has published several essays in academic journals published from within and outside India, delivered several talks around the world and written extensively on contemporary issues in Malayalam and English. Devika also writes extensively in Malayalam, in contemporary publications.She has also written for children, and her work was published by the Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishat

She also has a website about the first generation Malayalee feminists called Swatantryavaadini.[19]

Publications

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Books in English

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  • (Jointly with Binitha V Thampi) New Lamps for Old? Gender Paradoxes of Political Decentralization in Kerala, Zubaan, New Delhi, 2012.
  • Individuals, Householders, Citizens: Malayalees and Family Planning, 1930s-1970′, Zubaan, New Delhi, 2008.
  • En-Gendering Individuals: The Language of Re-forming in Early 20th Century Keralam, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 2007.

Books in Malayalam

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  • Navasiddhantangal: Streevadam(New Theory Series: Feminism), D.C Books: Kottayam, Kerala, 2000.
  • NirantharaPrathipaksham: J DevikaudeLekhanangal 2004-2018 (Selected Essays in Malayalam), Kottayam: DC Books, forthcoming, 2021.
  • PauriyuteNottangal (Woman-Citizen's Eye-view), Olive Books: Kozhikode, 2013.
  • (Ed.), AanarashunaatileKazhchakal: KeralamStreepakshaGaveshanattil (Sights from Male-dom: Kerala under Feminist Lenses), Women's Imprint, Thiruvananthapuram, 2006.
  • PennorumbettaalLokanMaarunnu: LinganeethiyudeViplavangal, (The World Changed When Women Move: Gender-Revolutions), Thiruvananthapuram, Readme Books, 2017.

Journals

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Translations

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From Malayalam to English

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  • The Cock is the Culprit, by Unni R, Amazon-Westland, 2020.[20]
  • One Hell of a Lover and Other Stories by UnniR, Amazon-Westland, 2019.
  • The Deepest Blue [English translation of KR Meera'sKarineela], in Mini Krishnan (ed.), The Oxford Book of Long Short Stories, New Delhi: OUP, 2017.
  • 'He-ghoul', [translation of K R Meera’s 'Aanpretham'] for Shinie Antony (ed), Boo: 13 Stories that Will Send a Chill Down Your Spine, Penguin Random House, 2017.[21]
  • "Sweet offering at Chankranthy", by TKC Vadutala, in M Dasanet. al (eds) The Oxford Anthology of Malayalam Dalit Writing, New Delhi: OUP, 2012.[22]
  • Swarga, English translation of Ambikasuthan Mangad's Enmakaje:[17] Published by Juggernaut Books (ISBN 9386228211, 9789386228215)

From English to Malayalam

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  • Samakaalika India: OruSamoohasastraavalokanam, KSSP: Thrissur, 2014. (Translation of SatishDeshpande's Contemporary India: A Sociological View)
  • AkamePottiyaKettukalkkappuram: Indian FeminisathinteVarthamaanam(Malayalam version of NiveditaMenon'sSeeing like a Feminist, Penguin, N Delhi), SahityaPravarthakaSahakaranaSangham, 2017.

References

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  1. ^ "Devika Jayakumari | Centre For Development Studies – Academia.edu". cds.academia.edu. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  2. ^ Sahadevan, Sajini (6 February 2018). "Women's presence in social media an ongoing struggle". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Centre For Development Studies". cds.edu. Archived from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Centre For Development Studies". cds.edu. Archived from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  5. ^ "About". KAFILA – 12 YEARS OF A COMMON JOURNEY. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  6. ^ Devika, J (2005). Her Self: Gender and Early Writings of Malayalee Women. Stree. ISBN 9788185604749.
  7. ^ "Continuing struggle (review of Her Self: Early Writings on Gender by Malayalee Women 1898-1938, translated and edited by J. Devika)". The Hindu. 5 June 2005. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  8. ^ a b Kuruvilla, Elizabeth (3 March 2017). "Writing is my revenge: K.R. Meera". Livemint. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  9. ^ Nair, C. Gouridasan (11 October 2010). "An untold story, with no strings attached (review of Kulasthreeyum Chanthappennum Undaayathengine?, by J. Devika)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.
  10. ^ Sreekumar, Sharmila; Radhakrishnan, Ratheesh (23–29 June 2007). "History of an emergence: 'woman' and 'man' in modern Kerala (review of Engendering Individuals: The Language of Re-Forming in Early Twentieth Century Keralam, by J. Devika)". Economic and Political Weekly. 42 (25): 2410–2412. JSTOR 4419729.
  11. ^ Anandhi, S. (October 2012). "Review of Individuals, Householders, Citizens: Malayalis and Family Planning, 1930–1970, by J. Devika". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 46 (3): 433–437. doi:10.1177/006996671204600318. S2CID 220706056.
  12. ^ Mahadevan-Dasgupta, Uma (5 October 2007). "Nalini's story (review of Autobiography of a Sex Worker, by Nalini Jameela, translated by J. Devika)". The Indian Express. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  13. ^ Banerjee, Purabi Panwar (289). "Review of Aa Maratheyum Marannu Marannu Njan: And Slowly Forgetting that Tree, by K. R. Meera, translated by J. Devika". Indian Literature. 59 (5). JSTOR 44479457.
  14. ^ "Review of Yellow is the Colour of Longing, by K. R. Meera, translated by J. Devika". The Caravan. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  15. ^ Kashwani, Anisha. "Review of Yellow is the Colour of Longing, by K. R. Meera, translated by J. Devika". Kerosine.
  16. ^ Dhar, Tej N. (285). "Review of Hangwoman, by K. R. Meera, translated by J. Devika". Indian Literature. 59 (1). JSTOR 44479279.
  17. ^ a b Nair, Aparna (11 May 2017). "Paradise lost (review of Swarga, by Ambikasuthan Mangad, translated by J. Devika)". The Hindu.
  18. ^ Vyawahare, Malavika (2 April 2017). "The fight against environmental crime (review of Swarga, by Ambikasuthan Mangad, translated by J. Devika)". Hindustan Times.
  19. ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (3 October 2020). "Academic-author J Devika begins website dedicated to feminists of Kerala in the first half of the 20th century". The Hindu.
  20. ^ R, Unni (15 November 2020). "'The Cock is the Culprit' review: Unni R's book is a hilarious political satire". The News minute.
  21. ^ "Rest, perturbed spirit..." Deccan Herald. 28 October 2017.
  22. ^ Dasan, M., ed. (2012). The Oxford India anthology of Malayalam dalit writing. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198079408.
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