J. Devika

Dr. J. Devika (full name Jayakumari Devika) is a Malayali historian, feminist, social critic and academician 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]

J. Devika
J Devika at a meet in UK
Born (1968-05-06) May 6, 1968
Kollam, Kerala, India[1]
OccupationProfessor
GenreWomen's studies, sociology, history
Literary movementFeminism
Notable worksKulasthreeyum Chanthappennum Undayathengane
Website
swatantryavaadini.in

Education

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

Writings

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 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]

Devika has translated number of books from Malayalam to English. Notable among them are the translation of Nalini Jameela's autobiography[10] and the short stories of K. R. Meera and Sarah Joseph.[11] She also translated the well acclaimed Malayalam novel, Arrachar by K. R. Meera into English as Hangwoman in 2014.[8]

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 Swantryavaadini.

References
  1. "Devika Jayakumari | Centre For Development Studies - Academia.edu". cds.academia.edu. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  2. Sahadevan, Sajini. "Women's presence in social media an ongoing struggle". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  3. "Centre For Development Studies". cds.edu. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  4. "Centre For Development Studies". cds.edu. 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. ISBN 9788185604749.
  7. "Continuing struggle". The Hindu. 5 June 2005. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  8. Kuruvilla, Elizabeth (3 March 2017). "Writing is my revenge: K.R. Meera". Livemint. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  9. The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : An untold story, with no strings attached
  10. Mahadevan-Dasgupta, Uma (5 October 2007). "Nalini's story". The Indian Express. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  11. Help, Caravan Circulation. "Yellow is the Colour of Longing". The Caravan. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
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