Volume 12, No. 2 – 2012

Articles

• Writing Lives by RAJESH V. NAIR Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, Articles The term life writing refers to a wide range of materials of self-inscription and self-representation, which includes autobiographies, biographies, life histories, diaries, memoirs, letters and journals. The existence of life writing material can be traced as far back as the… Continue Reading
• Identity by editor Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, Articles IDENTITY Telling lives inscribe human subjectivity and individuals write about their lives in order to share their unique experiences for future generations as valuable social documents. At the same time, on a personal level, there is an inherent urge to… Continue Reading
• A Repairable/ Perfectible body-Self-Image: Reading Cancer and its Cosmetic Concerns in Select Narratives by BINI B. S. Posted in: Life writing, Health, Articles Abstract: This paper looks at representations of ‘disfigurement’ resulting from surgical and therapy procedures in the treatment female cancers in select narratives understand the responses to altered body-self- images in the context of established notions about the ‘beauty’ of women’s… Continue Reading
• Counter Histories of Modernity in Kerala: Reading ‘not so good’ Women’s Autobiographies by SHERIN B. S. Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, History, Articles Abstract: Through counter narratives of Malayali modernity, autobiographical writings of Nalini Jameela and C. K. Janu puncture Kerala’s claim to an egalitarian social structure. By exposing the hypocrisy of modern Malayali society these narratives challenge the hierarchical constitution of intellectual… Continue Reading
• Life Written on Walls: Graffiti Subculture as life Writing by PHILIP JOSE AND E. A. IBRAHIM Posted in: Life writing, Culture, Articles Abstract: This article inquires into the life narrating aspect of graffiti subculture in its reflection of subcultural and countercultural identities, focusing on the scribbles and drawings found along the public surfaces in Kerala, with a cursory probe into the history… Continue Reading
• Women’s Life Writing by RAJESH NAIR Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, Articles As indicated in a previous section, life writing is a dynamic site of inscribing human subjectivity, especially of women and other marginalised sections in a society. With the advent of postcolonial era, one can notice a spurt in women's life… Continue Reading
• Life Writings and Communities of Memory: A Reading on the Narrative self of Kuriyedathu Tatri by MEERA K. G. Posted in: Life writing, Culture, Articles Abstract: This article analyses the communities of memory as reflected in life writings dealing with the Smarthavicharam of Kuriyedathu Tatri. However, it tries to examine various forms of life writing including autobiography, biography, testimonials, historical documents, newspaper records and literary… Continue Reading
• Trauma and Survival: Reading Karukku as Testimonio by RUNA CHAKRABORTY Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Culture, Articles Abstract: This paper attempts to explore the significance of reading Karukku as testimonio. Generically speaking, Karukku, the life-narrative written by a Tamil Dalit woman, Bama has more similarities with a testimonio than with an autobiography. While a conventional autobiography foregrounds… Continue Reading
• Autochoreography As Autobiography: Dancing with the pen and Penning the Dance in Martha Graham’s Blood Memory by TEENA RACHEL THOMAS Posted in: Performance, Life writing, Culture, Articles Abstract: By introducing. a new concept autochoreography, the article seeks to unravel how Martha Graham has penned her autobiography through her performances on the stage. A major concern is how body is used for articulating one’s self A reiterating feature… Continue Reading
• Translating Life: Language and Cultural Politics of the self in Kamala Das’ ente katha and my Story by ANU LEKSHMI U. G. Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, Articles Abstract: The reasons behind the growing interest in life writing are many and varied, but one important factor is that autobiography, in its various guises addresses many of the contemporary concerns regarding the status of the subject in relation to… Continue Reading
• Mapping the Contours of Femininity in Modern India: A Study of Binodini Dar’s my Story and my life as an Actress and Durga Khote’s, Durga Khote by SULFIA SANTHOSH Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, Articles Abstract: An autobiography, read as a transparent staging of existence, fails to accommodate any sense of tension or conflict between consciousness and the environment, people and their surrounding ideological world. The study is intended to theorise the politics and possibilities… Continue Reading
• Nationalism by RAJESH NAIR Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, Articles A nation is constructed through heterogeneous life narratives ranging from autobiographies, biographies, family histories to interviews and memoirs. However, we many observe the politics of such representations; very often we see narratives of subjects hailing from the dominant, mainstream sections… Continue Reading
• The Making of the Nationalist Imaginary Postcolonial Stakes and Nationalist Claims in the film Velu Thampi Dalawa by RENJINI R. Posted in: Life writing, Culture, Articles Abstract: How the nation-state conjures up an image of itself through various ideological apparatuses is a much contested site in Cultural Studies. Cinema, being one of the ideological apparatuses of the nation-state, elaborates such issues in seemingly simple yet complex… Continue Reading
• Celebrity Culture and Writing the Nation: Sachin Tendulkar as the Alter ego of the Indian Middle Class by SHAHID C. S. AND HARINARAYANAN S. Posted in: Life writing, Culture, Articles Abstract: Celebrities are part of a society and the role played by them requires close analysis. Often, sporting celebrities are taken as role models by people for their success. In India, Sachin Tendulkar is an idol created by the public… Continue Reading
• Cartooning Gandhi and the Politics of Representation by RAJESH V. NAIR Posted in: Life writing, Culture, Articles Abstract: Among the various visual life narratives, cartoons have a prominent role in depicting a life. The article begins with a brief introduction to cartoons and their appearance in India and then focuses on the twin dimensions of them -… Continue Reading
• Memory by RAJESH NAIR Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, Articles Abstract: The very act of remembering subsumes a reinterpretation of the past in the present. Citing Daniel L. Schacter, Rajesh Nair argues the memories are records of how we have experienced events, and are not replicas of the events themselves.… Continue Reading
• Scripting Death: Obituary as life Writing by PARVATHY DAS Posted in: Life writing, Culture, Articles Abstract: An obituary note in a news paper is more than a death narrative. When it narrates the death, it also inscribes the life of the diseased. An obit piece is a cultural text which performs certain functions. The life… Continue Reading
• Event as Metaphor: Memory, History and Meaning of a Murder in Pre-Partition Punjab by GIREESH J. Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, History, Culture, Articles Abstract: This article seeks to explore the peculiar martyrological configurations that operate in a recent oral/life history of al-laryanvi fat woman, Subhashini as presented in Nonica Datta’s Violence, Martyrdom and Partition: A Daughter’s Testimony. It demonstrates how memory intervenes in… Continue Reading
• Life Writing and Visual Culture by RAJESH NAIR Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, Articles Since time immemorial, life writers of different types have employed diverse visual texts as powerful narrative tools to inscribe the lives of their subjects. It was with the advancement of technology that the immense possibilities of photographs and other visuals… Continue Reading
• Visualising Trauma:a Photo Essay of Endosulphan Victims by HARINARAYANAN S. Posted in: Health, Development, Articles On this earth, where millions of various creatures exist, humans are the only race that can annihilate its own people ruthlessly and cause trauma even to the future generations. The present world is a ‘global village’ where market determines the… Continue Reading
• Sculpting Lives: A Reading of the Life Narration of Adi Sankara at Kalady by PHILIP JOSE AND RAJESH V. NAIR Posted in: Performance, Life writing, Articles Abstract: This paper attempts a scrutiny of the sculptural narration of the life of Adi Sankaracharya at Sri Adi Sankara Keerthi Sthamba Mandapam, Kalady and looks at how visual representations like statues and sculptures are deployed as tools for perceptual… Continue Reading
• Life Writings in Translation by editor Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Articles Life writings in vernacular languages are often translated into foreign languages, particularly in English. It happens the other way too. However, oral narratives in local languages are also recorded and translated. In fact, we may identify so many reasons behind… Continue Reading
• Interviews as life Narratives by RAJESH NAIR Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Life writing, Articles Interview is a personal narrative which throws light on a subject’s personality during his interaction with the interviewer. In fact, the aim of an interview is to explore and rather expose before the audience or readers a person’s judgement of… Continue Reading

Interview

• Meera Velayudhan -an Interview by CHANDRAMOHAN Posted in: Interview Keywords: dalit women, cochin legislative council, indian national congress, mandal agitation, form of engagement, form of exclusion Dr Meera Velayudhan, Fellow Council For Social Development (CSD), Hyderabad is one among the prominent Dalit activists in India. She was gracious enough… Continue Reading
• Kalki Subramanyam –an Interview by CHANDRAMOHAN Posted in: Interview Keywords: empowerment of transgenders, transgender rights activists, lgbt activists, sexual minority, literacy rate Kalki Subramanyam is the founder of "Sahodari Foundation," an organization working far the empowerment of transgenders in India. As a transgender rights activist, actor and a transsexual… Continue Reading
• Bengali Migrant Labourers- an Interview by PHILIP JOSE, E. I. IBRAHIM AND CHANDRAMOHAN Posted in: Interview Abstract: Kerala witnesses the onrush of migrant workers from the other states of India like West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh. Interestingly, the size of the migrant workforce in the State almost matched the estimated size of Malayalis working… Continue Reading

Translation

• Autobiography of Jacob Rama Varma, the Native Missionary by RAJESH V. NAIR. Posted in: Autobiography, Translation INTRODUCTION Abstract: Jacob or Yakoob Rama Varma’s autobiography first appeared in the form of a speech which was delivered in connection with his baptism in 1856. It is believed that the event took place in Basel Mission, Kannur and that… Continue Reading
• Songs as life Narratives:translation of a few Jewish Women’s Songs in Malayalam by PHILIP JOSE Posted in: Poetry, Translation Abstract: Oral narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, preserving culture and instilling moral values. Such oral traditions which are transmitted by word of mouth from one generation to other, may take the form of… Continue Reading