Shows
New Books in South Asian StudiesRuth Vanita, "A Slight Angle" (India Viking, 2024)A Slight Angle (India Viking: 2024), the newest novel from Indian writer Ruth Vanita, is a story about love. Difficult love–her six characters are growing up in 1920s India, which takes a dim view of same-sex relationships, and those that transcend religious boundaries. Like Sharad, the jewelry designer who falls in love with his teacher, Abhik–only for the embarrassment to keep them apart for decades.Ruth Vanita is the author of many books, most recently The Broken Rainbow: Poems and Translations (Copper Coin Publishing: 2023); the novel Memory of Light (Penguin Random House India: 2022); The Dharma of Justice in...2024-11-1433 min
New Books in LiteratureRuth Vanita, "A Slight Angle" (India Viking, 2024)A Slight Angle (India Viking: 2024), the newest novel from Indian writer Ruth Vanita, is a story about love. Difficult love–her six characters are growing up in 1920s India, which takes a dim view of same-sex relationships, and those that transcend religious boundaries. Like Sharad, the jewelry designer who falls in love with his teacher, Abhik–only for the embarrassment to keep them apart for decades.Ruth Vanita is the author of many books, most recently The Broken Rainbow: Poems and Translations (Copper Coin Publishing: 2023); the novel Memory of Light (Penguin Random House India: 2022); The Dharma of Justice in...2024-11-1433 min
New Books in LGBTQ+ StudiesRuth Vanita, "A Slight Angle" (India Viking, 2024)A Slight Angle (India Viking: 2024), the newest novel from Indian writer Ruth Vanita, is a story about love. Difficult love–her six characters are growing up in 1920s India, which takes a dim view of same-sex relationships, and those that transcend religious boundaries. Like Sharad, the jewelry designer who falls in love with his teacher, Abhik–only for the embarrassment to keep them apart for decades.Ruth Vanita is the author of many books, most recently The Broken Rainbow: Poems and Translations (Copper Coin Publishing: 2023); the novel Memory of Light (Penguin Random House India: 2022); The Dharma of Justice in...2024-11-1433 min
Asian Review of BooksRuth Vanita, "A Slight Angle" (India Viking, 2024)A Slight Angle (India Viking: 2024), the newest novel from Indian writer Ruth Vanita, is a story about love. Difficult love–her six characters are growing up in 1920s India, which takes a dim view of same-sex relationships, and those that transcend religious boundaries. Like Sharad, the jewelry designer who falls in love with his teacher, Abhik–only for the embarrassment to keep them apart for decades.Ruth Vanita is the author of many books, most recently The Broken Rainbow: Poems and Translations (Copper Coin Publishing: 2023); the novel Memory of Light (Penguin Random House India: 2022); The Dharma of Justice in...2024-11-1433 min
The Lesbian Historic Motif PodcastOur F/Favorite Tropes Part 13: Mothers, Sisters, Daughter – Pseudo-familial Relationships - The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 289Our F/Favorite Tropes Part 13: Mothers, Sisters, Daughter – Pseudo-familial Relationships
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 289 with Heather Rose Jones
In this episode we talk about:
Relationships using the imagery of sisters and mother/daughter
Age-gap relationships
ReferencesBabayan, Kathryn. “’In Spirit We Ate Each Other’s Sorrow’ Female Companionship in Seventeenth-Century Safavi Iran” in Babayan, Kathryn and Afsaneh Najmabadi (eds.). 2008. Islamicate Sexualities: Translations Across Temporal Geographies of Desire. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03204-0
Boswell, John. 1994. Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe. Villard Books, New York. ISBN 0-679-43228-0
Hansen, Karen V. 1995. "No Kisses is Like Your...2024-06-1517 min
Bad GaysQutbuddin Mubarak Shah"If you have to take an beautiful enslaved convert boy from another province to become your lover, and then you fall hopelessly in love with him, and then promote him and he attains great power, do be aware than he might actually want to take your throne." Somehow, this extremely specific lesson was forgotten by two generations of rulers. Join us in a trip back to the court of 1300s Delhi for a story of love, lust, intrigue, revolution, and, in the words of a historian of the time, "the results of pampering young men and catamites."
...2024-04-0948 minThe Lesbian Historic Motif PodcastOn the Shelf for February 2023 - The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 251On the Shelf for February 2023
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 251 with Heather Rose Jones
Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction.
In this episode we talk about:
The Harper Collins strike and the significance of major publishers in sapphic fiction
Recent and upcoming publications covered on the blogHaggerty, George E. 1998. Unnatural Affections: Women and Fiction in the Later 18th Century. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. ISBN 0-253-21183-2
Book ShoppingAbercrombie, Thomas A. 2018. Passing to América: Antonio (Née Maria) Yta's Transgressive, Transatlantic Life in the Twilight of th...2023-02-0416 min
Books and Beyond with Bound5.04 Mansi Choksi: Investigating The Dangers Of Modern Marriages In IndiaFind out how to write a gripping novel as a journalist which makes the readers question the institution of marriage!Mansi Choksi takes Tara and Michelle through her journey of writing her book “The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India”, a book not just about love and stakes of love, but is also a reflection of the rural and modern divide. How to write a thrilling investigative nonfiction? How did she meet her protagonists and gain their trust to talk about such a sensitive topic? How did she maintain the composure of an observer and...2023-01-3152 min
In Conversation: An OUP PodcastRuth Vanita, "The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics" (Oxford UP, 2021)Ruth Vanita's book The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics (Oxford UP, 2021) shows that many characters in the Sanskrit epics - men and women of all varnas and mixed-varna - discuss and criticize discrimination based on gender, varna, poverty, age, and disability. On the basis of philosophy, logic and devotion, these characters argue that such categories are ever-changing, mixed and ultimately unreal therefore humans should be judged on the basis of their actions, not birth. The book explores the dharmas of singleness, friendship, marriage, parenting, and ruling. Bhakta poets such as Kabir, Tulsidas, Rahim and Raidas drew on id...2022-11-1756 minNew Books in South Asian StudiesRuth Vanita, "The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics" (Oxford UP, 2021)Ruth Vanita's book The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics (Oxford UP, 2021) shows that many characters in the Sanskrit epics - men and women of all varnas and mixed-varna - discuss and criticize discrimination based on gender, varna, poverty, age, and disability. On the basis of philosophy, logic and devotion, these characters argue that such categories are ever-changing, mixed and ultimately unreal therefore humans should be judged on the basis of their actions, not birth. The book explores the dharmas of singleness, friendship, marriage, parenting, and ruling. Bhakta poets such as Kabir, Tulsidas, Rahim and Raidas drew on id...2022-11-1756 min
New Books in Ancient HistoryRuth Vanita, "The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics" (Oxford UP, 2021)Ruth Vanita's book The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics (Oxford UP, 2021) shows that many characters in the Sanskrit epics - men and women of all varnas and mixed-varna - discuss and criticize discrimination based on gender, varna, poverty, age, and disability. On the basis of philosophy, logic and devotion, these characters argue that such categories are ever-changing, mixed and ultimately unreal therefore humans should be judged on the basis of their actions, not birth. The book explores the dharmas of singleness, friendship, marriage, parenting, and ruling. Bhakta poets such as Kabir, Tulsidas, Rahim and Raidas drew on id...2022-11-1756 min
New Books in Indian ReligionsRuth Vanita, "The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics" (Oxford UP, 2021)Ruth Vanita's book The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics (Oxford UP, 2021) shows that many characters in the Sanskrit epics - men and women of all varnas and mixed-varna - discuss and criticize discrimination based on gender, varna, poverty, age, and disability. On the basis of philosophy, logic and devotion, these characters argue that such categories are ever-changing, mixed and ultimately unreal therefore humans should be judged on the basis of their actions, not birth. The book explores the dharmas of singleness, friendship, marriage, parenting, and ruling. Bhakta poets such as Kabir, Tulsidas, Rahim and Raidas drew on id...2022-11-1756 min
New Books in GenderRuth Vanita, "The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics" (Oxford UP, 2021)Ruth Vanita's book The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics (Oxford UP, 2021) shows that many characters in the Sanskrit epics - men and women of all varnas and mixed-varna - discuss and criticize discrimination based on gender, varna, poverty, age, and disability. On the basis of philosophy, logic and devotion, these characters argue that such categories are ever-changing, mixed and ultimately unreal therefore humans should be judged on the basis of their actions, not birth. The book explores the dharmas of singleness, friendship, marriage, parenting, and ruling. Bhakta poets such as Kabir, Tulsidas, Rahim and Raidas drew on id...2022-11-1756 min
New Books in ReligionRuth Vanita, "The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics" (Oxford UP, 2021)Ruth Vanita's book The Dharma of Justice in the Sanskrit Epics (Oxford UP, 2021) shows that many characters in the Sanskrit epics - men and women of all varnas and mixed-varna - discuss and criticize discrimination based on gender, varna, poverty, age, and disability. On the basis of philosophy, logic and devotion, these characters argue that such categories are ever-changing, mixed and ultimately unreal therefore humans should be judged on the basis of their actions, not birth. The book explores the dharmas of singleness, friendship, marriage, parenting, and ruling. Bhakta poets such as Kabir, Tulsidas, Rahim and Raidas drew on id...2022-11-1756 min
Queerness and Storytelling in IndiaEpisode 20 with academic and writer Ruth VanitaProfessor Vanita explains the processes that went into the making of Same-Sex Love in India. She emphasizes the need to make academic scholarship more accessible to the general reader. Vanita also shares her thoughts on the legalization of gay marriages and what that would mean for Indian gay and lesbian subjects.2022-09-3039 min
In PerspectiveQueer Love in Pre-Modern India and More with Dr. Ruth VanitaIn this episode, gender and sexuality studies scholar Dr. Ruth Vanita talks to us about narratives of same-sex love in early India, and the challenges of running one of India’s first feminist magazines back in the 1970s.‘In Perspective’ is our podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture.
2022-08-2128 min
The Belongg Literature PodcastGaze of the World and I Ep 2 | Ruth VanitaIn this episode, we speak to Ruth Vanita, an academic, an activist, and an author who has contributed immensely to literature around gender, sexuality, and culture. We speak to her about her book 'Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans of Bombay Cinema,' and explore her ground-breaking study of courtesan imagery in 235 films, throwing light on the role the courtesan figure played in shaping the modern Indian erotic, political and religious imagination. About the Guest: Ruth Vanita co-founded India’s first nationwide feminist magazine called Manushi: A journal about Women and Society, which combined academic research and gras...2022-06-0143 min
Crossroads in Therapy PodcastGaze of the World and I Ep 2 | Ruth VanitaIn our second episode, we speak to Ruth Vanita, an academic, an activist, and an author who has contributed immensely to literature around gender, sexuality, and culture. She co-founded India’s first nationwide feminist magazine called Manushi: A journal about Women and Society, which combined academic research and grassroots activism. An author of several books such as Gender, Sex and the City: Urdu Rekhti Poetry in India, Memory of Light, Love’s Rite: Same-sex Marriage in India and the West and Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans of Bombay Cinema, she has also translated many works of fiction and poetry from...2022-03-3043 min
The Discover India Podcast by Professor Pankaj Jain: Bhārat DarśanPostcolonialism and India: 1976 - 2020: A Webinar by Prof Harish TrivediPostcolonialism and India: 1976 - 2020: A Webinar by Prof Harish Trivedi (10th episode of the India Studies Series by the India Centre, FLAME University)
The formulation and effect of Postcolonialism were widely different in different locations - in the US academy where it began, in the White Commonwealth where it was embraced, and in India where it was resisted. This webinar traces the trajectory from the pre-Postcolonial to the post-Postcolonial. It focuses in particular on four Indian/para-Indian case studies: Phanishwar Nath "Renu", who was one of the first writers to depict post-Independence disillusionment in India, V. S...2022-03-221h 44
Poetry on RecordEp #2: Love- Long Distance RelationshipInterferences of distance, absence and time with matters of love often uncover how much it can endure. For this episode, we have a poem called 'Garments' by Ruth Vanita. The poem will appear in her upcoming collection of poetry titled A Hidden Player, to be published by Copper Coin later this year. We also have a couple sharing their long-distance love story of three years!
Hosted by Shreya,
People who contributed: Yashoyini and Akash2022-02-1206 min
Poetry on RecordEp #2: Love- Long Distance RelationshipInterferences of distance, absence and time with matters of love often uncover how much it can endure. For this episode, we have a poem called 'Garments' by Ruth Vanita. The poem will appear in her upcoming collection of poetry titled A Hidden Player, to be published by Copper Coin later this year. We also have a couple sharing their long-distance love story of three years!
Hosted by Shreya,
People who contributed: Yashoyini and Akash2022-02-1206 min
ORANGE CITY LITERATURE FESTIVALOCLF - 2020 | Reading from and discussion of Memory of Light - Ruth Vanita In conversation with Rozina RanaReading from and discussion of Memory of Light - Ruth Vanita In conversation with Rozina Rana2022-01-1736 min
Queerily Ever AfterS1 Ep 6: Memory of LightWelcome back, everyone! Today we're discussing the book Memory of Light by Ruth Vanita.
Here's a summary:
Preparations for King George the Third's fiftieth birthday gala are in full swing in Lucknow. As poets and performers vie to be part of the show, Chapla Bai, a dazzling courtesan from Kashi, briefly enters this competitive world, and sweeps the poet Nafis Bai off her feet. An irresistible passion takes root, expanding and contracting like a wave of light. Over two summers, aided by Nafis's friends, the poets Insha and Rangin, and Sharad, himself in love with a man, they exchange letters...2021-11-121h 40
RewindDr. Ruth Vanita in Conversation with Soumya SinghIn this episode of Rewind, Dr. Ruth Vanita discusses the history of gender, sexuality and queerness in India. 2021-09-291h 02
Pride and PrejudiceReading ‘Same Sex Love In India’ as historian Saleem Kidwai passesQueer historian Saleem Kidwai passed away on 30th August, a week before the anniversary of Sec 377 being read down on 6th September. On this episode of Pride & Prejudice, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Arif Zafar, an activist with the Naz Foundation International, about his passing. On one hand, Arif is mourning Saleem’s loss, his friend since the 80s. On the other hand, he is celebrating decriminalisation as he was jailed under sec 377 in 2001. The legal battle by the Naz Foundation was a result of this arrest. We read Saleem’s magnum opus with Ruth V...2021-09-2933 min
Queer Lit"Postcolonial Queerness" with Shamira MeghaniIn this episode, Dr Shamira Meghani (Cambridge University) talks to me about queerness and caste, about how imperialism shapes gender, about why people associate Islam with unfreedom, and about how literature can help us understand more about all of these intersections. They also explain what sexual dissidence means and why a tabloid newspaper suggested that the university that started the first MA programme on sexuality in Britain needed to be ‘disinfected’… Fascinating stuff and lots to think about! Give it a listen! Books, people and terms mentioned:Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence (University of Sussex...2021-09-1453 min
377: The legal battle against India’s anti-LGBTQ lawEpisode 03 - Macaulay’s ChildrenThomas Babbington Macaulay is the author of the Indian Penal Code—the laws that govern our country. He was key to drafting the words in Section 377. He was also key in forcing Indians to learn English customs under the British rule. This connection is no accident—homophobia is not natural or part of our history, it had to be taught.
What is the history of homosexuality in pre-colonial India, and what were the attitudes of people at the time?
We meet Dr Ruth Vanita and Dr Jyoti Puri and learn just how carefully the British defi...2021-09-0524 min
Books and AuthorsBooks & Authors podcast with Ruth Vanita, who has translated Mahadevi Varma's My FamilyPre-modern Indian attitudes to animals, what the Mahabharata says about cruelty to bulls, factory farming and vegetarianism, and Mahadevi Varma's stories about animals and their relationships with each other in 'My Family'... Ruth Vanita, who has translated the book talks about all that to @utterflea on this week's Books & Authors podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2021-09-0346 min
ARGUMENTATIVE INDIANS PODCASTIs Same Sex Love a Western Import ?Dr Ruth Vanita shares her research on hundreds of low-income, non-English-speaking same-sex couples from 1980 to the present who have got married by religious rites and/or committed joint suicide, with the hope of being united in the next life. She also discusses centuries of Indian writing and art about same-sex unions.Dr Vanita is an Indian academic, activist and author. She specialises in Indian and British literary history, with a focus on gender and sexuality studies. She is a professor at University of Montana, where she directs the program for South and South-East Asian studies. She is...2021-07-301h 00
Worldly WellbeingIn Conversation with Kanav SahgalKanav is a passionate advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in India. Whilst currently studying for his Masters in Bangalore, he has temporarily moved back to Kolkata whilst the country suffers from the devastating impact of Covid-19. Holly and Luke talk to Kanav about the impact of the pandemic on Kanav’s life and those close to and around him, as well as discussing the impact of colonialism on India’s approach to LGBTQ+ inclusion, consider intersectionality as a useful framework in India (read Kimberle Crenshaw’s paper here: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf), and looking ahead...2021-05-1738 minThe Lesbian Historic Motif PodcastOn the Shelf for September 2020 - The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 174 On the Shelf for September 2020
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 174 with Heather Rose Jones
Your monthly update on what the Lesbian Historic Motif Project has been doing.
In this episode we talk about:
The LHMPodcast is going independent!
Call for submissions for the 2021 LHMP audio short story series. See here for details.
Recent and upcoming publications covered on the blogHatem, Mervat. 1986. "The Politics of Sexuality and Gender in Segregated Patriarchal Systems: The Case of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Egypt" in Feminist Studies vol. 12, no. 2 250-274.
Vanita, Ruth. 2005. "Born of Two Vaginas: Love and Reproduction between C...2020-10-2115 minThe Lesbian Historic Motif PodcastLesbian-Like History and Racial Othering - The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 164Lesbian-Like History and Racial Othering
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 164 with Heather Rose Jones
An unblinking look at the historic intersection of women’s same-sex relations and racial othering
In this episode we talk about:
Finding historic writing from within non-Western culturesHabib, Samar. 2009. Arabo-Islamic Texts on Female Homosexuality: 850-1780 A.D. Teneo Press, Youngstown. ISBN 978-1-934844-11-3
Vanita, Ruth and Saleem Kidwai, eds. 2000. Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History. St. Martin’s, New York. ISBN 0-312-22169-X
Morgan, Ruth and Saskia Wierenga. 2005. Tommy Boys, Lesbian Men, and Ancestral Wives...2020-10-1814 minThe Lesbian Historic Motif PodcastOn the Shelf for February 2018 - The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 39On the Shelf for February 2018
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 39 with Heather Rose Jones
Your monthly update on what the Lesbian Historic Motif Project has been doing.
In this episode we talk about:
The fiction submission window is over
Send us your upcoming release notices about lesbian historical fiction
Lesbian Book Bingohttps://jae-fiction.com/lesbian-book-bingo/
My Lesbian Book Bingo stories http://alpennia.com/tags/lesbian-book-bingo
A new queer history podcast: History is Gay podcastEmail: historyisgaypodcast@gmail.com
Twitter: @HistoryisGayPod
Tumblr: historyisgaypodcast.tumblr.com
Website: https://www.historyisgaypodcast.com
Recent and upcoming publications covered on...2020-09-2120 min
India Booked with Ayushi MonaIndia Booked | Courtesans in the Indian ImaginationIn this eighth episode of India Booked, Ayushi Mona speaks to the stalwart academic and writer Ruth Vanita.
They chat about her journey writing about the courtesans of India (in Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans in Bombay Cinema and Memory of Light), what inspired her to write about the courtesan culture, how Victorian morality changed the ideas of pleasure in Indian society and made the "dominant attitude" as anti-pleasure, her favourite cinematic depiction of courtesans, and much much more.
Tune in now on the channel of your choice or the link in our bio.
*
Ruth Vanita is an Indian academic...2020-09-0525 min
India BookedIndia Booked | Courtesans in the Indian ImaginationIn this eighth episode of India Booked, Ayushi Mona speaks to the stalwart academic and writer Ruth Vanita. They chat about her journey writing about the courtesans of India (in Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans in Bombay Cinema and Memory of Light), what inspired her to write about the courtesan culture, how Victorian morality changed the ideas of pleasure in Indian society and made the "dominant attitude" as anti-pleasure, her favourite cinematic depiction of courtesans, and much much more. Tune in now on the channel of your choice or the link in our bio. 2020-09-0525 min
Jaipur Literature Festival with Brave New WorldTHE LEXICON OF LOVE Ruth Vanita and Sandip Roy in conversationRuth Vanita, with a vast body of groundbreaking work on gender, sexuality and women’s rights, speaks to writer journalist @sandipr, author of ‘Don’t Let Him Know’, about her evocative new novel ‘Memory of Light’ on same sex love in the last century and the impact of LGBT literature.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.2020-07-0945 min
Think Global, Do JusticeThe Beauty and Brokenness of AdoptionIn Episode 86, you will hear from Sandeep, Ruth, and Vanita Thomas, public speakers and an adoptive family. For full show notes, please visit www.thinkorphan.com2018-03-061h 18