Manu V. Devadevan

Manu V. Devadevan
Born	September 14, 1977 (1977-09-14) (age 34)
Occupation	Writing, Teaching
Nationality	Indian
Genres	Poetry, Criticism, Marxism
Influences O.V. Vijayan, Yukio Mishima, Karl Marx, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Louis Althusser, Giorgio Agamben

Manu V. Devadevan (born 14 September 1977) is a new poet writing in Kannada. His collection of poems in Kannada, Khandavide Ko Mamsavide Ko was published in 2008 and Suryagayathri in 2009. Devadevan is also a translator. He has translated Malayalam and Uttaradhunik Bangla poetry into Kannada and Kannada poetry and plays into Malayalam.^[1]

Life and career

Devadevan was born in Kozhencherry, in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. He had his schooling in Bangalore. He discontinued studies after Pre University Course and joined Indian railways in 1996, where he worked for five years with the Civil Engineering department at the Hubli divisional office of what was then South Central Railway. In 2001, he resigned from railways and began study into history, political theory, philosophy and literature. Devadevan obtained his Master's degree in history from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 2005 and won the fellowship in Kannada literature awarded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India. He is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social History, Philosophy and Buddhist Studies at NISWASS, Bhubaneswar.

Poems

Devadevan's poems show a sense of political restlessness. Most of Devadevan's poems display dark and farcical humor. He uses subjects ranging from myths, history, folklore, religion, metaphysics, politics and contemporary life. An acute sense of cynicism bordering on sadism is the common thread of these poems. Nagamandala, Chandrakauns and Bahuroopa are his experimental poems using different language forms ranging from theatre language to the style of inscriptions.^[2]

Political Nihilism

In his poems and literary essays Devadevan exhibits a form of political nihilism which treats all human affiliations as potentially dangerous in today's political context.^[3] He holds that all radical affiliations, including dalit, leftist, feminist and queer movements are dangerous and will soon turn into fundamentalist phenomenon like nationalism and fascism. It is only a matter of time before an emancipatory project takes a destructive turn and becomes virile. Some of his poems like Musuku, Pagadeyata, Tarkovskiya Diary and Modala Patha explore this form of Nihilism.

History and Political Theory

Devadevan has published in both English and Kannada on political theory and Indian history. His studies explore reification, forms of selfhood, subjectivity and normativity in their relationship with private property and the political economy. His work Pruthviyallodagida Ghatavu: Karnatakada Ninnegalu has been acknowledged as an important book and a work of signigicance.^[4]

Works

• Khandavide Ko Mamsavide Ko
• Suryagayathri
• Navilata
• Meghabhairavi
• Bhoosookta
• Prashnopanishad: Anuvaada, Adhyayana
• Indumauliya Besanadinda
• And God Said Let There Be Light
• Pruthviyallodagida Ghatavu
• Vaagartha
• Kavyameemamse: Taulanika Pariprekshe

External links

• English Translation of Leukemia in Muse India: http://www.museindia.com/showcurrent10.asp?id=1070
• http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/05/01/stories/2009050151030400.htm
• http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/04/30/stories/2010043050940400.htm
• Devadevan's article on Territoriality in South Asia, http://phalanx.in/pages/article_i004_territoriality.html
• http://brill.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/sho/2006/00000049/00000002/art00003

Footnotes

1. ^ Navilata and Meghabhairavi, Sakshi, Bangalore, 2009
2. ^ Khandavide Ko Mamsavide Ko
3. ^ Vaagartha, Bangalore, 2009. p.22-46.
4. ^ http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/04/30/stories/2010043050940400.htm

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Name	Devadevan, Manu V.
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Date of birth	14 September 1977
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