HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Uma Parameswaran (b. 1938) is an
Indo Indo may refer to: * Indo-, a prefix indicating India or the Indian Subcontinent * Indonesia, a country in Asia ** INDO LINES, callsign of Indonesian Airlines ** Indo people, people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry ** Indo cuisine, fusio ...
-
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
writer, scholar, and literary critic. Her writing includes works of fiction and poetry, as well as plays and nonfiction. She is a retired professor of English at the
University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...
.


Early life and education

Parameswaran was born in 1938 in
Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...
, India. She was raised in a
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...
home in
Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...
. She completed her B.A. at Jabalpur University and a masters degree in journalism at
Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a public state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as the second oldest in Maharashtra. It is named ...
. With a
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
grant, she completed a masters degree in creative writing at
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...
. In 1972, she completed a doctorate in English at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
.


Career

Parameswaran has written fiction, poetry, drama and literary criticism. Her poetry includes the 1973 collection ''Cyclic Hope, Cyclic Pain'', published by the
Writers Workshop Writers Workshop is a Kolkata-based literary publisher founded by the Indian poet and scholar Purushottama Lal in 1958. It has published many new Indian authors of post-independence urban literature. Many of these authors later became widely k ...
in Calcutta, the 1988 collection ''Trishanku'', and the 2002 collection ''Sisters at the Well''. She wrote the play ''Sons Must Die'' in 1962, and her other plays include ''Meera'' (1971), ''Sita's Promise'' (1981), ''Rootless but Green are the Boulevard Trees'' (1987) and ''Dear Deedi, My Sister'' (1989), which were collected in ''Sons Must Die and Other Plays'' in 1998 as part of the South Asian Canadian Literature Series (SACLIT) that Parameswaran created and edited. ''What Was Always Hers'', published in 1999, was her first collection of prose fiction, consisting of four short stories and a novella. In 2001, her novella ''The Sweet Smell of Mother's Milk-Wet Bodice'' was published. She has also written three novels: ''Mangoes on the Maple Tree'', published in 2002, ''Cycle of the Moon'', published in 2010, and ''Maru and the Maple Leaf'', published in 2016. Her work includes biographies of CV Raman and his wife, Lady Lokosundarai Raman. She was also a professor of English at the
University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...
.


Critical reception


Fiction

In a review of the collection ''What Was Always Hers'', Debbie Keahey writes for ''
Herizons ''Herizons'' is a Canadian feminist magazine published in Winnipeg, Manitoba and distributed to subscribers throughout Canada. Billed as "Canada's answer to ''Ms. magazine''," it is also sold on newsstands. History Founded in 1979 as a volunteer ...
'', "Parameswaran's writing is at its strongest in describing women's relationships with their children and spouses, and the combination of tenderness and misunderstanding often involved." In a review for ''
World Literature Today ''World Literature Today'' is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The stated goal of the magazine is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book review ...
'', James Gerein describes the novel ''Mangoes on the Maple Tree'' as "largely a success, for it gives us a glimpse into the lives of a recent immigrant family and how they feel about their new home as well as the tensions among themselves." In a review of the novel ''Maru and the Maple Leaf'', Nilambri Ghai writes in ''Montreal Serai'', "Parameswaran is very skilled in exploring centuries of relationships and bringing them together to a place in time that transcends a linear, chronological sequence of events." Susheela Rao writes in ''World Literature Today'' that ''The Sweet Smell of Mother's Milk-Wet Bodice'' "is the common tale of an Indian girl, naive and accustomed to living in a joint family, now exposed to a foreign culture and environment" and in the novella, "Parameswaran skillfully depicts the condition of such women." In ''
Canadian Literature Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both ...
'', Kuldip Gill writes, "Adaptation to a new country doesn't just produce a hybrid life, but rather a double consciousness, and a very deeply felt change of identity. Parameswaran could have shown us more depth in the crisis felt by
he protagonist He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
Namita, caught in an unjust world." Wendy Robbins writes in ''Herizons'' that ''The Sweet Smell of Mother's Milk-Wet Bodice'' "belongs to the genres of engagé literature, roman à thèse and feminist fiction" and "Parameswaran demonstrates that new social paradigms are possible and reminds us that feminists, despite the hype, have an extraordinary sense of humour."


Poetry

In a review of the poetry collection ''Sisters at the Well'', John Oliver Perry writes in ''
World Literature Today ''World Literature Today'' is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The stated goal of the magazine is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book review ...
'', "As in ''Trishanku'', the main persona here clearly presents experiences, attitudes, and issues of a civically and academically active Indian-born woman happily married to an Indian man, attempting to accommodate to Canadian - more specifically Manitoban - life culturally and climatically, and raising their child to have some honest feelings like their own about India and about their probably always less than fully accepted, racially marked place in Canadian multicultural society." In ''Negotiation of Home and Homelessness: The Immigrant in Uma Parameswaran's Poetry'' in the ''South Asian Review'', Minakshi Kaushik writes, "Against theories that see immigration as an eagerness to get assimilated, Paramswaran's poetry develops immigration as an experience that undergoes painful phases of nostalgia, alienation from Canadian culture, and the desire for grounding the self as subject in the erstwhile unfamiliar soil."


Plays

In a review of ''Rootless But Green Are the Boulevard Trees'' for ''
Canadian Literature Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both ...
'' Alan Filewood writes, "When first published in 1987 (some years in fact after it was written), Parameswaran's play was a groundbreaking and effective dramatic slice of life about an immigrant family in Winnipeg ..it was the emergence of South Asian voices in Canadian drama that was significant. The canon shifted." In a review of ''Rootless But Green Are the Boulevard Trees'' for ''Canadian Review of Materials'', Harriet Zaidman writes, "Despite the specific references the characters make to India and their heritage, plus some references to dated events and expressions that are no longer in common usage, the challenges these characters face apply to every group that has immigrated to this country in the past and at the present time" and that the play "would be an effective catalyst for discussion in today's high schools which are full of youth from every continent." In a ''Language in India'' review, Lidwina. E. Pereira describes ''Sita's Promise'' as "a play which links epic India with modern Canada through myth and dance" and "elucidates upon the celebration of Indian art traditions and familiarizing its richness to the children born in Canada and other Canadians." According to R. Vedavalli, in ''Critical Essays on Canadian Literature'', "The promise of Sita, "I through my people, shall surely come again and we shall build our temple and sing our songs with all the children to all the different countries who make this their home" symbolizes Uma Parameswaran's vision of Canada, as a mosaic of cultures."


Nonfiction

In a review of ''Kamala Markandaya'', B. Hariharan writes in ''
World Literature Today ''World Literature Today'' is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The stated goal of the magazine is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book review ...
'', "In an astute manner, the critic speaks of three distinct kinds of readers and their readings of Markandaya: Indians who have settled abroad, Indians living in India, and non-Indians. The division appears to be too neat, but she sticks to her "metacriticism," which is quite illuminating." In a review of ''Quilting a New Canon: Stitching Women's Words'' in the ''
NWSA Journal ''Feminist Formations'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1988 as the ''NWSA Journal'' (also known as the ''National Women's Studies Association Journal''); the name was changed beginning with the Spring 2010 issue. It publishes i ...
'', Shelley Lucas writes of the essay collection edited and introduced by Parameswaran that "each of the essays represents at least one of the three types of processes Parameswaran deems necessary for revising a canon: retrieving, recording, and re-reading" and the book offers "a sample of how feminists are interacting with communities, and, as a result, are revising the canons of other disciplines."


Selected works


Fiction, poetry, and plays

* ''Cyclic Hope, Cyclic Pain'',
Writers Workshop Writers Workshop is a Kolkata-based literary publisher founded by the Indian poet and scholar Purushottama Lal in 1958. It has published many new Indian authors of post-independence urban literature. Many of these authors later became widely k ...
(Calcutta, India), 1973. * ''Rootless But Green Are the Boulevard Trees'', TSAR (Toronto, Canada), 1987, , 2007, . * ''Trishanku'', TSAR (Toronto, Canada), 1988, . * ''The Door I Shut Behind Me: Selected Fiction, Poetry and Drama'', Affiliated East-West Press (Madras, India), 1990, , (includes "The Door I Shut Behind Me"; "Trishanku"; "Rootless But Green Are the Boulevard Trees") * (Editor) ''SACLIT: An Introduction to South Asian-Canadian Literature''. EastWest Books, (Madras, India), 1996. * ''SACLIT Drama: Plays by South Asian Canadians'', IBH Prakashana (Bangalore, India), 1996, , (includes "Meera"; "Sita's Promise"; "Rootless But Green Are the Boulevard Trees"). * ''Sons Must Die and Other Plays'', Prestige Books (New Delhi, India), 1998, , (includes "Sons Must Die"; "Meera"; "Sita's Promise"; "Dear Deedi, my Sister"; "Rootless But Green Are the Boulevard Trees"). * ''Trishanku and Other Writings'', Prestige Books (New Delhi, India), 1998. * ''What Was Always Hers'', Broken Jaw Press (Fredericton, Canada), 1999, . * ''The Sweet Smell of Mother's Milk-Wet Bodice'', Broken Jaw Press (Fredericton, Canada), 2001, , 2006, . * ''Mangoes on the Maple Tree'', Broken Jaw Press (Fredericton, Canada), 2002, . * ''Sisters at the Well'', Indialog (New Delhi, India), 2002. * ''Sons Must Die'', Alexander Street Press (Alexandria, United States), 2003, . * ''Sita's Promise'', Alexander Street Press (Alexandria, United States), 2004, . * ''Riding High with Krishna and a Baseball Bat'', iUniverse (Lincoln, NE), 2006. * ''The Forever Banyan Tree'', Larkuma (Winnipeg, Canada), 2007. * ''Fighter Pilots Never Die'', Larkuma (Winnipeg, Canada), 2007. * ''A Cycle of the Moon: a novel'', TSAR Publications, (Toronto, Canada), 2010, . * ''Maru and the Maple Leaf'', Larkuma (Winnipeg, Canada), 2016


Nonfiction

* ''A Study of Representative Indo-English Novelists'', Vikas Publishing House (New Delhi, India), 1976, . * (Editor) ''The Commonwealth in Canada: Proceedings of the Second Triennial Conference of CACLALS'',
University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...
, 1-4 October 1981,
Writers Workshop Writers Workshop is a Kolkata-based literary publisher founded by the Indian poet and scholar Purushottama Lal in 1958. It has published many new Indian authors of post-independence urban literature. Many of these authors later became widely k ...
(Calcutta, India), 1983. * ''The Perforated Sheet: Essays on Salman Rushdie's Art'', Affiliated East-West Press (New Delhi, India), 1988, . * (Editor) ''Quilting a New Canon: Stitching Women's Words'', Sister Vision (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996, . * ''Kamala Markandaya'', Rawat Publications (Jaipur, India), 2000, . * ''Salman Rushdie's Early Fiction'', Rawat Publications (Jaipur, India), 2007, * ''Writing the Diaspora: Essays on Cul re and Identity'', Rawat Publications (Jaipur, India), 2007.


Honors and awards

* 2000 Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee Award for short fiction (''What Was Always Hers'') * 2010 nomination for Canadian Book of the Year award (''A Cycle of the Moon'')


Personal life

Parameswaran moved to
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
in 1966, after she married. She has one daughter. Parameswaran is related to both CV Raman and Subramaniam Chandrasekhar.


References


External links


UMA PARAMESWARAN, Professor of English, University of Winnipeg
(University of Winnipeg, 17 March 2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Parameswaran, Uma Living people 1938 births Canadian people of Tamil descent Indiana University alumni Michigan State University alumni 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women poets Canadian women short story writers Canadian women novelists Canadian women academics Academic staff of University of Winnipeg