The Aesthetic Woman

Re-forming Female Bodies and Minds in Early Twentieth-Century Keralam

Bibliographic Data

ID3630296
AuthorsJ Devika (Centre For Development Studies, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume39
Issue2
Pages461-487
Publication date2005-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x04001519
OpenAlexW1996447839
LanguageEN
Citations received19

In late nineteenth century Malayalee society, the project of social reforming was caught up in the concern to evolve an alternative to established Jati-based mode of ordering human beings. The criticism by the missionaries of the CMS, LMS and the Basel Mission of the established order in Malayalee society as entirely unnatural and inimical to (universal) human values was heard right through the nineteenth century. At the turn of the century, the nascent modern educated of Tiruvitamkoor, Kochi and Malabar were beginning to echo such viewpoints actively. The terms on which these groups perceived their identities and assessed local society were more or less set by colonial sociology and the codification efforts by both imperial and local powers. Interpreting locally existing jati in terms of the construction of 'caste' (i.e., 'Nair', 'Ezhava', 'Araya' etc.) these groups sought to form organisations for the reform of caste, to transform these into full-fledged modern communities

Aesthetics · Art · Caste · Colonialism · Criticism · Economics · Order (exchange · Political science · Sociology · Viewpoints · Visual arts · History · Law · Philosophy · Social and Economic Development in India · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora

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