A Kerala Studies Blog
Traditional elites harboured peculiar notions of purity and pollution in pre-modern Kerala, which were revised by the neo-savarna of twentieth-century. This article reflects on notions of personal hygiene, cleanliness and clothing, using two excerpts from early-modern Kerala.
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Kumbalangi nights garnered critical claim and praise for its perceptive portrayal of the lives of four half brothers. Lipin Ram delves deeply into the question of family at the centre of the movie.
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How can we re-imagine urban planning to be non-disruptive, to promote environmental conservation and to preserve the humanity of our streets and walkways? Taking us through the undulating and thronging landscape of the city of Thiruvananthapuram, Thomas Oommen and Rajshree Rajmohan propose a solution that is both innovative and grounded in the realities of everyday life.
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കേരളത്തിൽ ‘അനാദായകരമായ വിദ്യാലയങ്ങള്‍’ വർദ്ധിക്കുന്നതെന്തുകൊണ്ട്? ജെ. രത്‌നകുമാറും സുജിത്കുമാറും കേരളത്തിലെ പൊതുവിദ്യാഭ്യാസരംഗത്തെ സങ്കീർണതകൾ വിശകലനം ചെയ്യുന്നു.
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കേരളത്തിലെ തൊഴിൽ മേഖലയിലുള്ള സ്ത്രീകളുടെ ജോലി സംബന്ധമായ സ്ഥിതിയും അവയിൽ ഗാര്‍ഹികപരമായ ചുമതലകളുടെ സ്വാധീനവും രാജേഷ് ചർച്ച ചെയ്യുന്നു.
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Ever since his works began to be translated into Malayalam in the mid-nineteenth century, Shakespeare’s adaptations have appeared as books, plays, comics and films in Kerala. Thea Buckley writes about the history of Kerala’s engagement with Shakespearean literature.
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What gave rise to the ‘Shakeela wave’ and the subsequent national appeal of the Malayalam soft-porn genre? Darshana Sreedhar Mini makes a case for foregrounding this ‘parallel history’ of Malayalam cinema.
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Sonja Thomas delves into the rarely acknowledged racial dynamics in India, and how the complex interrelationship between caste and race have impacts not just within India, but internationally.
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How can revisiting the various age-old legends about Ayyappan nuance the debate on women’s entry to Sabarimala in contemporary Kerala? The following is an excerpt from Madhavi Menon’s book, Infinite Variety: A History of Desire in India (Delhi: Speaking Tiger, 2018).
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നവകേരള നിര്‍മ്മാണത്തിന് കേരളത്തിൽ ചുമത്താൻ ഉദ്ദേശിക്കുന്ന ജി.സ്.ടി. സെസ്സിന്റെ പ്രായോഗികതയെക്കുറിച്ചു ഡോ. റെൽഫി പോൾ ചർച്ച ചെയ്യുന്നു.
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