Valerie Ritter
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Assistant Professor Ph.D. University of Washington, 2001 Field Specialties: Hindi language and literature	The University of Chicago 1130 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 Office: (773) 834-8618 Fax: (773) 834-3254 Email: ritter@uchicago.edu
Research Interests: Hindi literature, in particular poetry, and the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Braj Bhasha poetry. Sexuality, gender, and literature. Colonialism and aesthetics. Religion and literature. Current Research Projects: The Raja's Poetry during the Raj: Hindu Courts and their Litterateurs in Colonial North India, ca. 1800-1947, book manuscript in progress. “Hindi Goes South: The Publications of the Shri Venkateshvar Steam Press of Bombay,” article in progress. “Forgotten Nightingales: Hindi Poetesses of the Nineteenth Century,” article in progress. Translation and introuction for “Mysticism in Poetry” (1929) by Ramacandra Shukla, article in progress. “Keyword Samvedana: Sensibility/Sensitivity/Sympathy in Modern Hindi Discourse,” article in progress. Publications Include: Birds, Bees, Flowers, Trees: Erotics and the Politics of Nature in Hindi Poetry, 1885-1925. Book manuscript under review. “Problem Women: Shrngara and Public Discourse,” under review. “A House Overturned: A Classical Urdu Lament in Braj Bhasha,” with Amy Bard, for Shared Idioms, Sacred Symols: Process, Power, and the Articulation of Religious Identittes in South Asia, edited by Kelly Pemberton and Michael Nijhawan (forthcoming, Oxford: Routledge, February 2008). “Networks, Patrons, and genres for Late Braj Poets: Ratnakar and Hariaudh,” for Hindi and Urdu Before the Divide, edited by Francesca Orsini (forthcoming, Longman, 2007). Translation of poetry by Hariaudh and Shridhar Pathak, with introduction, for Translating Nationalism: An Anthology of Hindi and Urdu Texts, edited by Shobhna Nijhawan (forthcoming, Delhi: Permanent Black, 2007). “Epiphany in Radha's Arbor: Nature and the Reform of Bhakti in Hariaudh's Priyapravas ,” in Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity, edited by Guy Beck (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005), pp. 177-208. “The Language of Hariaudh's Priyapravas : Notes towards an Archaeology of Modern Standard Hindi.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 124:3 (July-September 2004), pp. 417-438. Courses taught (past and present): Literature (in translation): Graduate Seminar: Nature and Culture in South Asia Gender and Literature in South Asia Poetics and Poetry of South Asia Modern South Asian Literature: Literature and Nation Poetry of South Asia, 1400-1800 Hindi Literature: Gods and Lovers: Devotional and Courtly Poetry in Braj Bhasha Advanced Hindi: The Pleasures of Social Instruction: Four Early Hindi Novels Advanced Hindi: A Visit to the Asylum: Insanity in Hindi Literature and Film Advanced Readings in Hindi: Modern Hindi Poetry Advanced Readings in Hindi: Modern Hindi Prose Humanities: Reading Cultures: Travel South Asian Civilizations: Religion, Art, Literature Hindi: Advanced Hindi (Third- and Fourth-Years) Intensive Intermediate Hindi Intermediate Hindi Elementary Hindi Informal Course: Urdu Script for Hindi Students Related Links: Return to Main Faculty Page .