Books

Female empowerment: impact of literacy in Jaipur District, Rajasthan authored by Taisha Abraham, and Malashri Lal (1995)
This book studies the impact of literacy programmes in rural communities of the Jaipur district of Rajasthan. In particular, the author addresses the issues of female empowerment, human rights and dignity within a contextualized framework. Local responses to innovative literacy programmes launched by Lok Jumbish, Women’s Development Project, Sandhan, Vishakha, State IDARA, IEC and other agencies are examined. The analysis also takes note of research conducted by the Institute of Development Studies.

Feminist Spaces: Cultural Readings from India and Canada, edited by Malashri Lal (1998)
The anthology examines postcolonial and postmodern linkages of feminism in Canada with a view to establishing common rubrics of interest for scholars in India and Canada. Constituted of cross-cultural responses, the theoretical referencing alludes to new critical discourses but uses literary texts to demonstrate the practice of interpretive reading. The essays published here refer to feminist aesthetics in the genres of fiction, poetry, drama and take note of the polemics of Canadian postmodernism. As the contributors belong to major centres of learning in India and Canada, the range of subject material and critical approaches has a relevance to international programmes in Canadian Studies.

The Law of the Threshold, authored by Malashri Lal (1995/2000)
This book is an attempt to suggest a methodology for Women’s Studies in India, particularly as it relates to interpretations of literary texts in English. Recasting some significant works by writers from Toru Dutt to Bharati Mukherjee in the mould of masked autobiography, the book argues that women’s personal lives are often disguised in fiction as narratives of a depersonlised time and place.

Women's Studies in India: Contours of Change by Sukrita Paul Kumar and Malashri Lal (2002)
The Discipline of "Women's Studies'' has yet to establish firm roots in Indian Academia. What causes an apparent mismatch between a recognised need to systematize an approach to social development and the actualisation of that need in pedagogical practice? In the context of Indian universities in particular, such queries are crucial. To advocate its strengths, Women's studies needs the mechanisms of institutionalization. Materials production is a necessary, effective enterprise. The present anthology of essays is designed as a teaching and Library resource for Women's Studies. Drawing upon the expertise of major disciplines such as history, political science, sociology, psychology and literature, it focuses purposefully on aspects of female experience that conventional learning has either ignored or deliberately relegated to silence. Such damaging silence is now broken. The women's movements and women's studies have a shared trajectory established through their syncratic relationship set into interdisciplinary frames. Research areas are clearly indicated; the fruits of individual empirical investigation are generously shared. Be it an interview on empowerment policy or stereotypes in cinema, or a glance at the results of militancy, or a return to the pages of history, the issue of denied status women surfaces over and over again. Yet the authors, by the fineness of their argument, uncover the past in order to move towards a more equitable future.

At Home in the World, edited by K. Satchidanandan, Keki Daruwalla, Madhup Mohta, Malashri Lal and Namita Gokhale, ICCR, New Delhi (2005)
At home in the world captures the mood of a new cultural space. Believing that the inscriptions of a language are as much visual of aural, this multilingual text offers a tribute to the resonance of India's multiple voices. Further, it encourages readers to recognize their own multilingual capabilities and actively engage with the regional work and its translation. While most of the selections from bhasa have been rendered here in English, as a unique experiment some reputed English writings has been specially translated into bhasa. This unique collection of contemporary creative writing contemporary creative writings in a multilingual text format brings alive the plurality and diversity of Indian literature.

Interpreting Homes in South Asian Literature, edited by Malashri Lal and Sukrita Paul Kumar (2007)
Interpreting Homes: South Asian Literature attempts to map the narratives of the 'home' in South Asian literature from the advance of modernity on the subcontinent till the present day. It explores geographical, psychological and material connotations of 'home' and disassembles the concept of 'home' in all its incarnations. The book problematises ‘home’ and its experience in different contexts. It focuses on literature and also deals with cultural narratives of home in oral and folk mediums.

The Indian Family in Transition: Reading Literary and Cultural Texts, edited by Sanjukta Dasgupta and Malashri Lal (2007)
This book critiques literary and cultural representations of the Indian family to explore the manner in which the family and its structure are in transition. The papers explore (and expose) how the Indian family, whether in India or in diaspora, needs to be redefined in the current context-in this age of rapid industrialization, globalization (both cultural and economic), and the emergence of new technologies. The family is viewed from a variety of perspectives, as represented in film, theatre, and literature-both English and vernacular. Including reflective pieces by several well-known scholars, this volume offers a holistic understanding of local and global shifts and fissures that shape the family today.

Speaking For Myself, edited by Malashri Lal and Sukrita Paul Kumar (2009)
This anthology of stories and poems challenges the stereotypical image of women, particularly Asian women, as passive and submissive. While the women in these stories come from diverse cultural backgrounds, their voices give poignant expression to many issues which are common-motherhood, family dynamics, economic deprivation, sexuality-questioning the patriarchal authority under which they lead their lives. Drawing upon the work of over sixty authors-from China, Mongolia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Macau, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and many others-the book offers a filigree of existential concerns and overlapping cultural patterns reflected in the literatures of these nations, transcending political boundaries. The creativity of the women writers represented in Speaking for Myself poses an alternative image of the Asian woman-strong, innovative and inspiring-and opens possibilities for dialogue across borders through literature.

In Search of Sita: Revisiting Mythology, edited by Malashri Lal and Namita Gokhale (2009)
Sita is one of the defining figures of Indian womanhood, yet there is no single version of her story. Different accounts coexist in myth, literature and folktale. Canonical texts deify Sita while regional variations humanize her. Folk songs and ballads connect her timeless predicament to the daily lives of rural women. Modern-day women continue to see themselves reflected in films, serials and soap operas based on Sita’s narrative. Sacrifice, self denial and unquestioning loyalty are some of the ideals associated with popular perceptions of Sita. But the Janaki who symbolized strength, who could lift Shiva’s mighty bow, who courageously chose to accompany Rama into exile and who refused to follow him back after a second trial, is often forgotten. However she is remembered, revered or written about, Sita continues to exert a powerful influence on the collective Indian psyche. In Search of Sita presents essays, conversations and commentaries that explore different aspects of her life. It revisits mythology, reopening the debate on her birth, her days in exile, her abduction, the test by fire, the birth of her sons and finally her return to the earth—offering fresh interpretations of this enigmatic figure and her indelible impact on our everyday lives.

Chamba Achamba: Women’s Oral Culture, edited by Malashri Lal and Sukrita Paul Kumar (2012)
The book uncovers the reality beneath a romanticised surface and enteres the lives of the women of Chamba and the rural area of Bharmour. With an understanding that women and culture studies are entering previously unrecorded sites of knowledge, mainly the oral repertoire the anthology seeks to construct a cultural ap which is based on traditional tales, poems, legends, songs, mythologies and domestic and community practices.

Tagore and the Feminine: A Journey in Translations, edited by Malashri Lal (2015)
This book presents a range of Rabindranath Tagore's creative works, including translations of short stories, essays, poems, memoirs, songs and plays from his vast corpus to show his conception of the feminine and gender identity that are relevant even today. The editor establishes the search for Tagore's engagement with the feminine as subject and agency, character and voice, philosophy and politics in this book. There is rich cultural interplay as Tagore muses over the contrasting social position of women in the 'East' and the 'West'. He relies on Indian traditions to understand them in the context of domestic ethics, marital institutions, parenting, empowerment, aesthetics and gender politics. The book includes new translations while presenting fresh insights into previously published works.

Gender and Diversity: India, Canada and Beyond, edited by Malashri Lal, Chandra Mohan, Enakshi K Sharma, Devika Khanna Narula and Amrit Kaur Basra (2015)
Comparing India with Canada, the essays in this book suggest new ways of thinking about the issue of gender and diversity in multiple contexts. India and Canada provide a range of comparative paradigms, even when they are distinct in many of their organizational structures. Gathering material from eminent researchers in both the countries, and adopting the tools of interdisciplinary pedagogy, the book presents cutting edge scholarship in emerging areas. Four sections - Cultural Pluralism, Gender Perspectives, Life-Story/Her Story, and Practical Applications - neatly divide the primary concerns while admitting to creative overlaps. The discourse in several voices engages with: history * rootedness * belonging * orality * identity formation * life writing * family reorientations * human rights * cross-cultural milieu * policy formation * memorializing * politics of the body * nuances of power. The book delves in experiential learning in rural areas, work places, and school districts, as also with literary texts of a theoretical nature. In effect, it demonstrates that modern knowledge systems on gender are built upon contemporary understanding of the shifting parameters by which gender is defined.

An Anthology of Indian Fantasy Writing edited by Malashri Lal and Deepa Agarwal (2017)
The book consist of papers presented in a national seminar organized by the Sahitya Akademi on the theme, “Fantasy, Science Fiction and Other Forms of the Marvellous in Indian Literature”, is the first of its kind to address Indian literature in this genre. It draws attention to the fact that the ‘marvelous’ is often the agency of carrying entertainment as well as social message, conservative as well as radical politics, stereotyping as well as its ironic deflation.

Signifying the Self: Women and Literature edited by Malashri Lal , Shormishtha Panja, Sumanyu Satpathy (2017)
Essays on expressions of feminism in India. One section deals with women's autobiography;others focus on writing by Dalit women of Bengal, Gujarat, Tamilnadu and Andhra; regional and global issues in women's writings, and same-sex love in literature and film. Attention to a wide range of material. a path-breaking study

Cosmopolitan spaces: Indian literature and counterpoints of modernity, edited by Malashri Lal (2018)
The anthology delves into a contemporary and challenging theme that cuts across the literature and languages of India. The scope is vast in terms of the time frame and the multilayered socio-political imperatives. The eighteen essays in this anthology carry the wisdom and research of some of the finest scholars of Indian literature in the country. It's a first collection to address the trending theme of Cosmopolitanism in this in-depth and comprehensive manner.

Finding Radha: The Quest for Love, edited by Malashri Lal and Namita Gokhale (2018)
Who was Radha, and why has she captured the imagination of so many writers across centuries? No other goddess combines the elements of bhakti and shringara quite as exquisitely as the divine milkmaid. She spans a vivid rainbow of imagery-from the playfulness of the Ras Lila to the soulfulness of her undying love, from the mystic allure of her depictions in poetry, art and sculpture to her enduring legacy in Vrindavan. In a way that sets her apart from other female consorts, Radha is idealized and dreamed of in a way that is almost more elemental than mythical.Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal present an anthology on the mysterious Radha, the epitome of love, who defies all conventional codes yet transcends social prohibitions through the power of the spiritual and the sensual, the sacred and the erotic. Finding Radha is the first of its kind: a collection of poetry, prose and translation that enter the historical as well as the artistic dimensions of the eternal romance of Radha and Krishna.

Betrayed by Hope: A Play on the Life of Michael Madhusudan Dutt authored by Malashri Lal and Namita Gokhale (2020)
Michael Madhusdan Dutt (1824--1872), a maverick who changed the scope of Bengali poetry in the nineteenth century, especially with his free-verse epic, 'Meghnadhbadh Kabya', was a genius who never got his due. Throughout his life, Madhusudan was caught in an identity crisis: he wrote in the English language, changed his religion and was a restless traveller, yearning to belong somewhere. After an extended sojourn in London and Paris, with misery and poverty as his constant companions, the poet finally found his metier in his mother tongue. Betrayed By Hope, a play-script based on the letters Michael Madhusudan Dutt wrote to friends, well-wishers and patrons, paints the portrait of an artist as he plunges headlong into crisis after crisis, even as his imagination and creativity soar. Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal pay tribute to his extraordinary life in a story that will lay bare our deep-set contradictions about art and life.