Feeling Kerala: An Anthology of Contemporary Feeling Kerala: An Anthology of Contemporary Malayalam Stories

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About the Book The living, pulsating and ever-changing entity that is Kerala is best represented by its astute, critical and deeply insightful writers of the Malayalam short story, and in Feeling Kerala, a selection of some of the best and sharpest narratives from the region is now translated and curated for English readers to love and cherish.

While staying true to their literary form, these stories provide a tour into the heart and soul of contemporary Kerala and aim at getting past the twentieth- century characterizations of the state, say, as defined by the communist egalitarian spirit or matrilineal families. After all, Kerala is unique in more ways than one, thanks to the heightened experience of migration and transnationalism, among other things.

This collection also succinctly encapsulates the varied landscapes of Kerala: the highlands, the coastal areas and the growing urban centres. The stories move in and out of homes and take the readers into older spaces- convents and panchayats-and the new spaces of the capital-airports and tourist resorts-as well as the world of criminals.

About the Author J DEVIKA is a feminist historian, social researcher and translator, currently with the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She translates literary writing from Malayalam to English and social science writing from English to Malayalam. She has translated the literary writings of K.R. Meera, Sarah Joseph, Unni R., Ambikasutan Mangad and Lalithambika Antharjanam, among others.

Her website, www.swatantryavaadini.in, is a collection of translations of the writings of early-twentieth-century feminists in Malayalam-speaking regions.

Introduction The idea of this anthology struck me as I was mulling over writing a book about the place I love best, Kerala. I have devoted much of my life to understanding society and culture in this part of India as an active participant in the collective exercise of reimagining it under the significantly different global and national scenarios of the twenty-first century. Anyone who wishes to learn about Kerala has no dearth of sources to choose from.