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Imagining a New Nation: Perspectives of Two Women Novelists in Tamil Krithika (1915 – 2009) and Rajam Krishnan (1925- 2014)

Imagining a New Nation: Perspectives of Two Women Novelists in Tamil Krithika (1915 – 2009) and Rajam Krishnan (1925- 2014)

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Imagining a New Nation: Perspectives of Two Women Novelists in Tamil Krithika (1915 – 2009) and Rajam Krishnan (1925- 2014)
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<strong>CENTRE FOR WOMEN'S STUDIES, JNU</strong> a Seminar on <strong>Imagining a New Nation: Perspectives of Two Women Novelists in Tamil Krithika (1915 – 2009) and Rajam Krishnan (1925- 2014)</strong> By <strong>Dr. V Padma (A Mangai),</strong> (Visiting Faculty, CSLG, JNU) For long and even today, the comment that women write of a world that is domesticated, interior and personal persists in the world of literary criticism. And no doubt many women wrote works of that kind. In Tamil however the fifties saw a new wave in terms of representation of women by both male and female writers and exploration of new themes related to the new nation-state of India. Krithika aka Mathuram Boothalingam opened a new vista of literary horizon with her complex understanding of the industrialization and modernisation in the newly independent young democracy called India. With her access to bureaucracy of this young nation, she explored newer avenues with psychological depth. Beginning to write in the 1950s around the same time Rajam Krishnan looked at the same phenomenon from the other side of the spectrum. She chose to write of the nation, community, development, ecology and human resources from the point of view of those in the bottom most rung of the social ladder. It took her to unknown areas, to people who spoke different languages but her restlessness to talk back to the system persisted. Between the two one finds the utopian dream of a new nation and the misgivings simultaneously. <strong>Date: 7th April 2016</strong>

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.