Dr. V. Rajesh

Name: V. Rajesh

Designation: Associate Professor (on sabbatical leave for 2024)

Email: rajeshv@iisermohali.ac.in

Telephone: +91-0172-2293169

Telefax: +91-0172-2240266

Office: 4F7, Academic Block 1

Websites Google Sites Academia Curriculum Vitae

Education Ph.D. History, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, 2010.

M.Phil. History, University of Hyderabad, 2004.
M.A. History, University of Hyderabad, 2003.
B.A. History, Madras Christian College (MCC), 2001.

Employment
Head, Department of HSS, IISER Mohali 15 February 2021 to 9 January 2024
Associate Professor, Department of HSS, IISER Mohali w.e.f. 6 October 2020
Assistant Professor, Department of HSS, IISER Mohali w.e.f. 29 November 2013
Assistant Professor, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta (CSSSC), Jun-Nov 2013
Assistant Professor, Department of History, Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ), Jun 2012-May 2013
Adjunct Faculty, Department of HSS, IIT Madras, Jan 2010-May 2012

Areas of Research Intellectual and Cultural History of Modern India, South Asian Literary Cultures, Literary Historiography, Tamil Language and Literature

Research Focus My earlier research dealt with the reproduction and reception of classical Tamil literature in colonial India. Focusing on what is understood in Tamil literary tradition as ‘Sangam’ anthologies, my work investigated the transmission of this body of literature in Tamil literary tradition in a long term historical perspective. By doing so, my work raised questions on the historiographical position of its dramatic ‘rediscovery’ in the second half of the nineteenth century in the backdrop of expanding print culture in colonial Madras. The research provided a background and structure to the history of print-publication of classical Tamil literature during the 19th and early 20th century. My current research work focuses on the history of progressive literary movement and the intellectual history of various strands of Marxist thought in Tamil language. I am more interested in examining the regional profile of Marxist thought in the intellectual history of modern India by focusing on Tamil language and the lives of Tamil Left activists and ideologues such as Singaravelar, Jeevanandam and others during the 20th century.

Teaching HSS102 History of Science (Core Course)
HSS613 The Social History of Science in Modern India, 1780-1950
HSS617 From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India
HSS618 India from Prehistory to Early History (Co-Instructor)
HSS620 Imagining India: An Intellectual History of Orientalism
HSS627 Idea of India: Intellectual Imaginary of Nation

Selected Publications

• •   ‘Progressivism and Tamil Modernity: Tracing the History of Progressive Literature in Tamil, 1940-1970’ in Nishat Zaidi (ed), Indian Modernities: Literary Cultures from the 18th to the 20th Century, Routledge, New Delhi, 2023, pp. 201-225.(https://www.routledge.com/Indian-Modernities-Literary-Cultures-from-the-18th-to-the-20th-Century/Zaidi/p/book/9781032280127) (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003405788-17/progressivism-tamil-modernity-rajesh-venkatasubramanian?context=ubx&refId=bf8e33f5-b577-4cc1-985a-0d94dfe5a0db)
  •   ‘The Making of Classical Tamil Literature: Multiple Sources in its Construction’ in Aloka Parasher-Sen (ed), Seeking History through Her Source: South of the Vindhyas, Orient Blackswan, New Delhi, 2022, pp. 25-43. https://orientblackswan.com/details?id=9789354422928 Reviews:- 1) Frontline: https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/book-review-seeking-history-through-her-source-south-of-the-vindhyas-edited-by-aloka-parasher-sen-captures-the-fragment-in-history/article65870491.ece 2) The Book Review: https://www.thebookreviewindia.org/interrogating-sources-in-innovative-ways/
  •   The Russian Revolution and India: Compilation from Soviet Land Magazine and Other Sources, Routledge, 2020. (Co-Editor). (https://www.routledge.com/The-Russian-Revolution-and-India/Manian-Rajesh/p/book/9780367642082)
  •   Manuscripts, Memory and History: Classical Tamil Literature in Colonial India, Cambridge University Press India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 2014. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/manuscripts-memory-and-history/BA58606E20FEB02BCFDF11D77FF40EEF) Reviews: 1) EPW: https://www.epw.in/journal/2014/42/book-reviews/classical-tamil-literature.html 2) IESHR: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0019464615573295 3) Relegere-Studies in Religion and Reception: https://relegere.org/relegere/issue/view/36 4) Frontline: https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/seeds-of-tamil-renaissance/article5787804.ece
  •   ‘Beyond the Politics of Identity: The Left and the Politics of Caste and Identity in Tamil Nadu, 1920-63’, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 38, 4, 2015, pp. 543-557 (With Ravi Vaitheespara). (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00856401.2015.1070011 )
  •   ‘Spatial Perceptions in Early Tamil Poetry’, Summerhill: IIAS Review, Vol. XXIV, No. 1 (Summer 2018), pp. 6-12. http://14.139.58.200/ojs/index.php/summerhill/article/view/1097
  •   ‘The Making of Sangam Literary Canon and Tamil Identity’, in R. Cheran, Darshan Ambalavanar and Chelva Kanakanayagam, (eds.), New Demarcations: Essays in Tamil Studies, Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc, Toronto, 2008, pp. 133-147. https://www.amazon.in/New-Demarcations-Essays-Tamil-Studies/dp/1551303434

  • Achievements

    Best Teacher Award, IISER Mohali, 2018.
    Jan Gonda Fellow, Jan Gonda Foundation, IIAS Leiden, The Netherlands, 2008.
    Andhra Bank Gold Medal for securing First with Distinction in M.A. History, University of Hyderabad, 2003.

    Affiliation

    Member, Association for Asian Studies, Ann Arbor, Michigan
    Member, Indian History Congress
    Fellow, International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES), Colombo, Sri Lanka, June-July 2023
    Affiliate, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, 2024