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
- ^ a b c 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
- ^ Global Feminisms Project (23 April 2004), Interview with Ruth Vanita, hdl: 2027.42/55715
- ^ "Ruth Vanita". University of Montana. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ Review of A Play of Light:
-
^ Reviews of Sappho and the Virgin Mary:
- Marcus, Sharon (Spring 1998), Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 17 (1): 146–150,
doi:
10.2307/464330,
JSTOR
464330
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Smith, Patricia Juliana (Summer 1998), Victorian Studies, 41 (4): 635–637,
JSTOR
3829029
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Oxindine, Annette (Winter 1998), Modern Fiction Studies, 44 (4): 1032–1034,
doi:
10.1353/mfs.1998.0101,
JSTOR
26285344,
S2CID
161210681
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Traub, Valerie (Summer 1999), "The Rewards of Lesbian History", Feminist Studies, 25 (2): 363–394, doi: 10.2307/3178684, JSTOR 3178684
- Edinger, Harry G. (Fall 1999), International Journal of the Classical Tradition, 6 (2): 319–321,
JSTOR
30222574
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Leonardi, Susan J. (Winter 2000), Signs, 25 (2): 549–552,
doi:
10.1086/495452,
JSTOR
3175567
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Altman, Meryl (January 2001), Nineteenth-Century Contexts, 23 (2): 309–313,
doi:
10.1080/08905490108583544,
S2CID
220349351
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link)
- Marcus, Sharon (Spring 1998), Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 17 (1): 146–150,
doi:
10.2307/464330,
JSTOR
464330
-
^ Reviews of Love's Rite:
- Choudhury, Sonya Dutta (19 December 2005), "Moving through mythology and popular culture, this book celebrates the forbidden love that is at the centre of a raging debate", India Today
- Wilhelm, Amara Das (16 October 2006), Review, White Crane Institute
- Banerjee, Sikata (November 2007), Women's History Review, 16 (5): 798–800,
doi:
10.1080/09612020701447863,
S2CID
219611286
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Dave, Naisargi N. (Spring 2011), "Abundance and Loss: Queer Intimacies in South Asia", Feminist Studies, 37 (1): 14–27, doi: 10.1353/fem.2011.0012, JSTOR 23069881, S2CID 245656522
-
^ Reviews of Gender, Sex, and the City:
- Dasgupta, Rohit K. (December 2012), "Review", Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific, 31
- Tomas, Lora (16 November 2013), "The laughter of women, the sparkle of Urdu poetry", Sunday Guardian
- Taneja, Anand Vivek (April 2014), The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 51 (2): 279–282,
doi:
10.1177/0019464614527537,
S2CID
144368758
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link)
-
^ Reviews of Dancing with the Nation:
- Sahani, Alaka (23 January 2018), "Courtesans brought older aesthetic traditions to the new nation", The Indian Express
- Menon, Krishna, "Through the Lens of Gender and Sexuality", The Book Review India
- Chintamani, Gautam (10 March 2018), "Power women of Bombay cinema: This richly detailed encyclopaedic account presents the changing role of the courtesan in Hindi films across eight decades", The New Indian Express
- FPJ Bureau, "Review", The Free Press Journal
- ^ Vanita, Ruth (15 April 2020). Memory of Light. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-349766-0.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Three Poems By Ruth Vanita". Outlook India. 29 April 2023.
-
^ Reviews of In Search Of Answers:
- douglas, carol anne (January 1985), Off Our Backs, 15 (1): 8–20,
JSTOR
25775289
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Banerji, Sumanta (June 1985), "Reporting to Each Other", Economic and Political Weekly, 20 (23): 997–998, JSTOR 4374493
- Mohanty, Chandra Talpade (September 1985), "Voices from "Manushi"", The Women's Review of Books, 2 (12): 6–7, doi: 10.2307/4019724, JSTOR 4019724
- Nag, Moni (December 1985), Population and Development Review, 11 (4): 784,
doi:
10.2307/1973476,
JSTOR
1973476
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Lewis, Linda S. (Spring 1987), Signs, 12 (3): 582–586,
doi:
10.1086/494349,
JSTOR
3174342
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link)
- douglas, carol anne (January 1985), Off Our Backs, 15 (1): 8–20,
JSTOR
25775289
-
^ Reviews of Same-Sex Love in India:
- George, Annie (Spring–Fall 2002), International Journal of Sociology of the Family, 30 (1/2): 89–90,
JSTOR
23028779
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Burkhart, Geoffrey (February 2003), The Journal of Asian Studies, 62 (1): 322–323,
doi:
10.2307/3096220,
JSTOR
3096220
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - De, Esha Niyogi (Summer 2004), Signs, 29 (4): 1170–1175,
doi:
10.1086/380623,
JSTOR
10.1086/380623,
S2CID
225086502
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Kent, Eliza F. (January 2005), International Journal of Hindu Studies, 9 (1/3): 220–221,
JSTOR
20106958
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Rishi, Jaydeep (Fall 2009), "Review", Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 1 (2)
- D'Souza, Dilip (13 December 2013), "Love and Gender, According to the Hindu Epics", The New York Times
- George, Annie (Spring–Fall 2002), International Journal of Sociology of the Family, 30 (1/2): 89–90,
JSTOR
23028779
- ^ Review of Queering India:
-
^ Reviews of India and the World:
- Ghai, T. C., "Review", Fortell
- Gautam, Nishtha (5 September 2015), "The Many Crimes Of Professor Harish Trivedi", Huffington Post
- Dasthakur, Saurav (2016), "Review", IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, 10 (1): 279–284
- ^ Review of Ugra:
- ^ Varma, Mahadevi (16 August 2021). My Family. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5492-158-2.
External links
- Ayyar, Raj. (2001-03-05). " Reclaiming Gay India with Ruth Vanita". GayToday. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- "Gay historians: Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai," QueerIndia, 5 March 2005
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
Categories:
- 1955 births
- Indian women science writers
- Indian lesbian writers
- Indian LGBT rights activists
- Indian LGBT writers
- Living people
- Postmodern feminists
- University of Montana faculty
- Writers from Delhi
- 20th-century Indian translators
- Indian social sciences writers
- 20th-century Indian women writers
- 20th-century Indian social scientists
- 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
- Indian women translators
- Women writers from Delhi
- Historians of LGBT topics
- Indian women historians
- 21st-century Indian historians
- 20th-century Indian historians
- LGBT historians
- Lesbian academics
- Indian expatriate academics
- Indian expatriate academics in the United States
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
- ^ a b c 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
- ^ Global Feminisms Project (23 April 2004), Interview with Ruth Vanita, hdl: 2027.42/55715
- ^ "Ruth Vanita". University of Montana. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ Review of A Play of Light:
-
^ Reviews of Sappho and the Virgin Mary:
- Marcus, Sharon (Spring 1998), Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 17 (1): 146–150,
doi:
10.2307/464330,
JSTOR
464330
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Smith, Patricia Juliana (Summer 1998), Victorian Studies, 41 (4): 635–637,
JSTOR
3829029
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Oxindine, Annette (Winter 1998), Modern Fiction Studies, 44 (4): 1032–1034,
doi:
10.1353/mfs.1998.0101,
JSTOR
26285344,
S2CID
161210681
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Traub, Valerie (Summer 1999), "The Rewards of Lesbian History", Feminist Studies, 25 (2): 363–394, doi: 10.2307/3178684, JSTOR 3178684
- Edinger, Harry G. (Fall 1999), International Journal of the Classical Tradition, 6 (2): 319–321,
JSTOR
30222574
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Leonardi, Susan J. (Winter 2000), Signs, 25 (2): 549–552,
doi:
10.1086/495452,
JSTOR
3175567
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Altman, Meryl (January 2001), Nineteenth-Century Contexts, 23 (2): 309–313,
doi:
10.1080/08905490108583544,
S2CID
220349351
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link)
- Marcus, Sharon (Spring 1998), Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 17 (1): 146–150,
doi:
10.2307/464330,
JSTOR
464330
-
^ Reviews of Love's Rite:
- Choudhury, Sonya Dutta (19 December 2005), "Moving through mythology and popular culture, this book celebrates the forbidden love that is at the centre of a raging debate", India Today
- Wilhelm, Amara Das (16 October 2006), Review, White Crane Institute
- Banerjee, Sikata (November 2007), Women's History Review, 16 (5): 798–800,
doi:
10.1080/09612020701447863,
S2CID
219611286
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Dave, Naisargi N. (Spring 2011), "Abundance and Loss: Queer Intimacies in South Asia", Feminist Studies, 37 (1): 14–27, doi: 10.1353/fem.2011.0012, JSTOR 23069881, S2CID 245656522
-
^ Reviews of Gender, Sex, and the City:
- Dasgupta, Rohit K. (December 2012), "Review", Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific, 31
- Tomas, Lora (16 November 2013), "The laughter of women, the sparkle of Urdu poetry", Sunday Guardian
- Taneja, Anand Vivek (April 2014), The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 51 (2): 279–282,
doi:
10.1177/0019464614527537,
S2CID
144368758
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link)
-
^ Reviews of Dancing with the Nation:
- Sahani, Alaka (23 January 2018), "Courtesans brought older aesthetic traditions to the new nation", The Indian Express
- Menon, Krishna, "Through the Lens of Gender and Sexuality", The Book Review India
- Chintamani, Gautam (10 March 2018), "Power women of Bombay cinema: This richly detailed encyclopaedic account presents the changing role of the courtesan in Hindi films across eight decades", The New Indian Express
- FPJ Bureau, "Review", The Free Press Journal
- ^ Vanita, Ruth (15 April 2020). Memory of Light. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-349766-0.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Three Poems By Ruth Vanita". Outlook India. 29 April 2023.
-
^ Reviews of In Search Of Answers:
- douglas, carol anne (January 1985), Off Our Backs, 15 (1): 8–20,
JSTOR
25775289
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Banerji, Sumanta (June 1985), "Reporting to Each Other", Economic and Political Weekly, 20 (23): 997–998, JSTOR 4374493
- Mohanty, Chandra Talpade (September 1985), "Voices from "Manushi"", The Women's Review of Books, 2 (12): 6–7, doi: 10.2307/4019724, JSTOR 4019724
- Nag, Moni (December 1985), Population and Development Review, 11 (4): 784,
doi:
10.2307/1973476,
JSTOR
1973476
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Lewis, Linda S. (Spring 1987), Signs, 12 (3): 582–586,
doi:
10.1086/494349,
JSTOR
3174342
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link)
- douglas, carol anne (January 1985), Off Our Backs, 15 (1): 8–20,
JSTOR
25775289
-
^ Reviews of Same-Sex Love in India:
- George, Annie (Spring–Fall 2002), International Journal of Sociology of the Family, 30 (1/2): 89–90,
JSTOR
23028779
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Burkhart, Geoffrey (February 2003), The Journal of Asian Studies, 62 (1): 322–323,
doi:
10.2307/3096220,
JSTOR
3096220
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - De, Esha Niyogi (Summer 2004), Signs, 29 (4): 1170–1175,
doi:
10.1086/380623,
JSTOR
10.1086/380623,
S2CID
225086502
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Kent, Eliza F. (January 2005), International Journal of Hindu Studies, 9 (1/3): 220–221,
JSTOR
20106958
{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical ( link) - Rishi, Jaydeep (Fall 2009), "Review", Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 1 (2)
- D'Souza, Dilip (13 December 2013), "Love and Gender, According to the Hindu Epics", The New York Times
- George, Annie (Spring–Fall 2002), International Journal of Sociology of the Family, 30 (1/2): 89–90,
JSTOR
23028779
- ^ Review of Queering India:
-
^ Reviews of India and the World:
- Ghai, T. C., "Review", Fortell
- Gautam, Nishtha (5 September 2015), "The Many Crimes Of Professor Harish Trivedi", Huffington Post
- Dasthakur, Saurav (2016), "Review", IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, 10 (1): 279–284
- ^ Review of Ugra:
- ^ Varma, Mahadevi (16 August 2021). My Family. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5492-158-2.
External links
- Ayyar, Raj. (2001-03-05). " Reclaiming Gay India with Ruth Vanita". GayToday. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- "Gay historians: Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai," QueerIndia, 5 March 2005
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
Categories:
- 1955 births
- Indian women science writers
- Indian lesbian writers
- Indian LGBT rights activists
- Indian LGBT writers
- Living people
- Postmodern feminists
- University of Montana faculty
- Writers from Delhi
- 20th-century Indian translators
- Indian social sciences writers
- 20th-century Indian women writers
- 20th-century Indian social scientists
- 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
- Indian women translators
- Women writers from Delhi
- Historians of LGBT topics
- Indian women historians
- 21st-century Indian historians
- 20th-century Indian historians
- LGBT historians
- Lesbian academics
- Indian expatriate academics
- Indian expatriate academics in the United States