Ruth_Vanita

Ruth Vanita

Ruth Vanita

Indian academic, activist and author

Ruth Vanita is an Indian academic, activist and author who specialises[1] in British and Indian literary history with a focus on gender and sexuality studies. She also teaches and writes on Hindu philosophy.

Early life and education

Vanita earned her BA, MA and PhD in English at Delhi University.[2]

Career

From 1994 to 1997 Vanita was Reader in the Department of English at Delhi University.[1] She is now a professor of English and World Cultures at the University of Montana, where she directs the program in South & South-East Asian Studies.[3]

While living in Delhi in 1978, Vanita co-founded Manushi: A Journal about Women and Society, a journal that combined academic research and grassroots activism. She served as the journal's unpaid, volunteer co-editor from 1979 to 1991.[1]

Major publications

Books

  • 1994: A Play of Light: Selected Poems[4]
  • 1996: Sappho and the Virgin Mary: Same-Sex Love and the English Literary Imagination[5]
  • 2005: Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West[6]
  • 2005: Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Culture
  • 2012: Gender, Sex and the City: Urdu Rekhti Poetry in India 1780-1870[7]
  • 2017: Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans in Bombay Cinema[8]
  • 2020: Memory of Light (a novel)[9]
  • 2022: The Dharma of Justice: Debates on Gender Varna and Species[10]
  • 2023: The Broken Rainbow: Poems and Translations[11]

Edited volumes

  • 1991 (ed. with Madhu Kishwar): In Search of Answers: Indian Women's Voices from Manushi[12]
  • 2000 (ed. with Saleem Kidwai): Same-Sex love in India: Readings from Literature and History[13]
  • 2002 (ed.): Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society[14]
  • 2014 (ed.): India and the World: Postcolonialism, Translation and Indian Literature – Essays in Honour of Professor Harish Trivedi[15]

Translations

  • 1994: Yadav, Rajendra: Strangers on the Roof, translated by Ruth Vanita, Penguin India, 1994 (updated edition with a new introduction 2014)
  • 1997: Detha, Vijay Dan. Dilemma and Other Stories
  • 2003: Bhandari, Mannu: The Great Feast (Mahabhoj)
  • 2006: Sharma, Pandey Bechan ("Ugra"): Chocolate and Other Stories on Male-Male Desire[16]
  • 2007: About Me (Apni Khabar) (autobiography of Pande Bechan Sharma Ugra)
  • 2008: The Co-Wife and Other Stories by Premchand
  • 2013: Alone Together: Selected Stories of Mannu Bhandari, Rajee Seth and Archana Varma
  • 2021: My Family by Mahadevi Varma[17]

References

  1. [1]
    Miller, Jane Eldridge, ed. (2002), "Vanita, Ruth", Who's who in Contemporary Women's Writing, The Routledge who's who series, Psychology Press, p. 333, ISBN 9780415159814
  2. [2]
    Global Feminisms Project (23 April 2004), Interview with Ruth Vanita, hdl:2027.42/55715
  3. [3]
    "Ruth Vanita". University of Montana. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  4. [4]
    Review of A Play of Light:
    • Manjari, N. Pranava (November–December 1998), Indian Literature, 42 (6): 174–177, JSTOR 23342361{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  5. [5]
    Reviews of Sappho and the Virgin Mary:
  6. [6]
    Reviews of Love's Rite:
  7. [7]
    Reviews of Gender, Sex, and the City:
  8. [8]
    Reviews of Dancing with the Nation:
  9. [9]
    Vanita, Ruth (15 April 2020). Memory of Light. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-349766-0.
  10. [10]
    The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics: Debates on Gender, Varna, and Species. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. 31 October 2022. ISBN 978-0-19-285982-2.
  11. [11]
    "Three Poems By Ruth Vanita". Outlook India. 29 April 2023.
  12. [12]
    Reviews of In Search Of Answers:
  13. [13]
    Reviews of Same-Sex Love in India:
  14. [14]
    Review of Queering India:
  15. [15]
    Reviews of India and the World:
  16. [16]
    Review of Ugra:
    • Knight, Lisa I. (December 2010), International Journal of Hindu Studies, 14 (2/3): 343–345, JSTOR 41476628{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  17. [17]
    Varma, Mahadevi (16 August 2021). My Family. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5492-158-2.
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