A Kerala Studies Blog
What are the joys and challenges of translating Malayalam literature to English? To know more, Ala spoke to Prabha Zacharias, whose translation of V M Devadas’ 2010 novel, Pannivetta, titled The Boar Hunt, was published this July by Hachette India.
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Pulp fiction in Kerala remains a genre that does not receive much attention, despite the significant role it has played in cultivating a reading culture in Kerala. Serialised novels in Malayalam weeklies had readers hooked for decades. Shibu B S delves into the rich world of painkili (‘songbird’) novels in Kerala.
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K J Baby’s 1991 novel, Mavelimantam, is the story of the resistance of the Adiyor community against centuries-old slavery at a historical point where feudalism was joining hands with emerging colonial forces in India. Mileena re-reads the novel with reference to the concept of Dalitisation by Kancha Ilaiah.
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എം ആർ രേണുകുമാർ കുട്ടികൾക്കുവേണ്ടി എഴുതിയ മൂന്ന് പുസ്തകങ്ങൾ ഇവിടെ അവലോകനം ചെയ്യുന്നു. ആൺകുട്ടിക്കാലത്തിൻ്റെ സങ്കീർണ്ണമായ വിവരണത്തിലൂടെ ജാതീയത, ലിംഗഭേദം, അരികുവത്കരണം എന്നിവ യുവ വായനക്കാർക്ക് മുൻപിൽ പുനർവായനയ്ക്ക് വിധേയമാക്കുന്നു.
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As the Supreme Court puts the notorious Section 124A on hold, Kabani reviews Shinilal’s novel based on the controversial law, arguing that the book goes beyond a critique of the overpowering fascist ideological tendencies in state machinery to ask pertinent questions on democracy and citizenship.
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Ever since Aleena’s collection of poems, ‘Silk Route’, was published by Goosebery Publications in July 2021, her works have been discussed widely on social media, for her use of the Malayalam language in innovative ways while discussing complex politics. Aleena talks to Ala about her poems and their politics, and about using horror as a genre for poetry.
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Sreejith delves into three of M. R. Renukumar’s illustrated stories for children, exploring how these rich portrayals of the turbulent lifeworlds of boys convey the complexities of gender, caste, and social marginalization for young readers.
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Filled with illustrations as colourful and flavourful as the spices it describes, A Little Spice Is Extra Nice is the[…]
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J. Devika writes about the life of Saraswathi Amma, her contributions to feminist literature in early modern Kerala, and the[…]
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In the first of a two-part series, J. Devika writes about the life of Saraswathi Amma, her contributions to feminist[…]
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