Christel Rashmi Devadawson

Biography

I’m passionate about the way in which cultures think, argue, and occasionally fall silent across time and space in poetry, fiction, painting and pictorial satire. This is, I think, the one constant that holds together what otherwise seem divergent research interests: nineteenth century representations of India, South Asian and life writing in English, and popular culture in India in the twentieth century and after, and Golden Age detective fiction. I also care very much about how teaching and research interests sometimes feed into — and off — each other, and sometimes seem to walk resolutely away from each other. This explains, perhaps, why I choose to teach twentieth-century British poetry and fiction at the Masters level, and why I run M Phil courses that reflect my research interests in contemporary popular fiction and visual cultures. These are: ‘Modern India in Paint and Print,’ ‘Dissent and the Shaping of South Asia,’ and ‘Culture and Crime: Golden Age Detective Fiction.’

Research Interest

Nineteenth century representations of India, South Asian and life writing in English, Popular culture in India in the twentieth century and after, Golden Age detective fiction.