Ruth Vanita

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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[edit]

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

Career[edit]

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[edit]

Books[edit]

  • 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]

Edited volumes[edit]

  • 1991 (ed. with Madhu Kishwar): In Search of Answers: Indian Women's Voices from Manushi[9]
  • 2000 (ed. with Saleem Kidwai): Same-Sex love in India: Readings from Literature and History[10]
  • 2002 (ed.): Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society[11]
  • 2014 (ed.): India and the World: Postcolonialism, Translation and Indian Literature – Essays in Honour of Professor Harish Trivedi[12]

Translations[edit]

  • 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[13]
  • 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

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 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. Global Feminisms Project (23 April 2004), Interview with Ruth Vanita, hdl:2027.42/55715
  3. "Ruth Vanita". University of Montana. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  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. Reviews of Sappho and the Virgin Mary:
  6. Reviews of Love's Rite:
  7. Reviews of Gender, Sex, and the City:
  8. Reviews of Dancing with the Nation:
  9. Reviews of In Search Of Answers:
  10. Reviews of Same-Sex Love in India:
  11. Review of Queering India:
  12. Reviews of India and the World:
  13. 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)

External links[edit]