Translating the queer Marathi public sphere
Lawrence Cohen, Professor
Anthropology
Applications for Spring 2025 are closed for this project.
The core of this research involves translating from the Marathi language a series of essays by the Mumbai-based gay activist and journalist Ashok Row Kavi. These essays appeared in a prominent Marathi-language newspaper and have recently been published. I work with Mr. Row Kavi and have written about his activism, his public health work, and his controversial political stances. In addition to translating these essays, the student researcher may wish to explore other popular writing centered on queer engagement in contemporary or modern Marathi.
Qualifications: The researcher would need fluency or near-fluency in the Marathi language, and an interest in LGBTQ life and politics in contemporary South Asia and its diasporas. I wouid expect either 3-5 or 6-8 hours per week, and we would briefly meet weekly to discuss the text. Skills to be developed include translation, facility in queer theory and anthropology, and a knowledge of the cultural politics of sexuality in a non-English public sphere in contemporary India.
Hours: to be negotiated
Social Sciences Arts & Humanities