Christine Everaert portrait
  • Affiliated Faculty Middle East Center, Middle East Studies Program
  • Section Head / Coordinator of the Hindi, Urdu and South Asian Studies Program , Asian Studies Program
  • Associate Professor, World Languages and Cultures

Research Statement

 The focus of my current and future research is on:

-     'translation between communities': I am working on a publication that further explores the 'stylistic' differences between Hindi and Urdu. During the research of my book, I unearthed tendencies of a preference for closed endings in Hindi versus open endings in Urdu, as well as a higher intolerance for impoliteness towards people of the upper class in Hindi than in Urdu. I am currently working on the further development and illustration of this, based on a larger corpus of stories.

-     Sufism in modern literary culture and popular entertainment: When one watches the music clips of the immensly popular songs 'Chaiya Chaiya' and 'Satrangi re', written by Gulzar, one hears up-beat, catchy, through-and-through Bollywood songs. It is hard to find more Indian than this: a love-song, to the tune of which the couple and a group of men dance on top of a driving train, with in the background an Indian mountainous landscape. A couple, performing a mysterious, erotic dance in the middle of the desert. But... is that all there's to it? 'Chaiya Chaiya' and 'Satrangi re' are the ideal song to illustrate how comprehension of history of literature, classical Persian writers and their philosophy, religion and society, as well as linguistics can add tremendously to descerning and grasping a deeper or hidden layer of popular culture.

-     comparative modern Hindi and Urdu 20th century 'subversive' and/or censored literature. Both languages have a very rich (so far mainly untranslated) literature and throughout the turbulent Indo-Pakistani history, literary creations have been censored or caused upheaval for a series of reasons. My current research project aims at illustrating the link between authority, culture and society on the one hand side and subversiveness of different topics on the other hand. Certain topics (religion, (homo)sexuality, blasphemy,...) have a higher likeliness of attracting problems when they are dealt with in literary prose. However, sometimes, these topics are used as pretext to (try to) censor literature, but the authorities have an underlying -political- reason. Moreover, what is considered shocking or unacceptable in one culture hardly raises an eyebrow in the other. For all these reasons combined, censored and subversive literature can give a very deep insight into Indo-Pakistani society and history throughout the 20th century. It shows how 'outcasts' can turn into national heroes and how the 'obvious objectionable contents' leading to censorship are actually only used as a pretext.

Research Keywords

  • Sufism in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
  • South Asian Languages and Literature
  • Hindi and Urdu

Presentations

  • Invited talk: “Hinduism, Hindi and the Identity-Building in India” by the Institute of Indian Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) for the international conference with the theme of “Great Transition in India” (not presented due to travel restrictions and technical issues related to time-difference for a virtual presentation). Invited Talk/Keynote, Other, 04/27/2022.
  • "Muslims through the Hindi literature of Gulsher Khan Shani and Rahi Masum Raza" INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HINDI STUDIES, INALCO, Paris. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 09/15/2016.
    http://ichs2015.sciencesconf.org/
  • Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (WCAAS). Role: Invited Roundtable/discussant. Roundtable/discussant for high school teachers about approaches to teaching Asian Religions, 55th WCAAS, Salt Lake City, October 9-10. Invited. Other, Presented, 10/10/2015.
    http://wcaas.org/conferences/2015/index.php#
  • “The influence of religious schooling systems on (in)tolerance in South Asia”: ISARH (Institute of South Asian Religious History) Symposium 2015, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 04/03/2015.
    http://www.jsarh.com/
  • Invited panel talk for “Fazal Sheikh Exhibition, Discussion Panel: Widowhood in Indian literature and society”, University Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA), University of Utah. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/06/2014.
  • Invited by Prof. Robert Gehl to talk as an expert on Bollywood film, in the framework of his BUS 3212: "Business of Global Media” (Invited classroom presentation). Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/01/2014.
  • Organizer of a film event with internationally acclaimed artist Manick Sorcar. Deepa and Rupa: A Fairy Tale From India. Other, Presented, 04/07/2014.
  • “The precarious future of Sufism in South Asia”: conference by Centre for South Asian Studies of the Russian State University for the Humanities; the Second international workshop: “Open Pages in South Asian Studies”, Moscow, Russia (Webex). Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 04/25/2013.
  • “Premchand’s Sab se anmol rattan revisited”, by Bal Ram Singh, Ph.D. Director, Center for Indic Studies at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth . Invited Talk/Keynote, Accepted, 04/2013.
  • Country profile of Pakistan: 23rd Annual Language Conference by Utah Army National Guard 300th Military Intelligence Brigade (Linguist), Utah National Guard Headquarters, Draper, Utah . Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/09/2012.
  • "Looking for the hidden colours of Sufism in the shadow of a song": 5th Annual South Asian Studies Association Conference, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 04/08/2011.
  • "What lies beyond the Script: Hindi vs. Urdu short stories": 50th Annual Meeting, The Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (SEC/AAS), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, (Panel: "Fighting words and pretty pictures: renegotiations of Hindi-Urdu in the 20th Century", Panel Organizer: Pamela Lothspeich, Discussant: Satendra Khanna (Duke), Other panelists: Sujata Mody (NCSU), Afroz Taj (UNC), Pamela Lothspeich (UNC)). Conference Paper, Presented, 01/16/2011.
  • "The polarization of Hindi and Urdu": Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2011, Osaka, Japan, 23-25 March 2011. (Unable to attend due to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011). Conference Paper, Refereed, Accepted, 01/2011.
  • "South Asian Subversive Modern Literature": Professor Luncheon: organised by ASUCI Professor Luncheon Commission and the SRFP commission, University of California, Irvine . Other, Presented, 01/28/2010.
  • "Chaiya Chaiya, Looking for the soul of a culture in the shadow of a song": keynote speaker at the Indological Day, organised by the University of Leiden, The Netherlands: Theme: Interplay between the Persian and Indian Culture . Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 09/26/2009.
  • "Subtle Urdu, blunt Hindi?" at the Comparative Literature Association of India’s Ninth Biennial International Conference: “Diverse Harmonies: Literary and Cultural Confluences”, at University of Hyderabad and EFL University Hyderabad, 28-31 January 2009, India. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 01/30/2009.
  • "Hidden Heroines: Mozail and other progressive women in 20th century Hindi/Urdu short story literature" at Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (WCAAS) meeting to be held at the University of Colorado at Boulder, September 12-14, 2008. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 09/28/2008.
  • "Lost (and added) in translation: Exploring the boundaries between Hindi and Urdu, Qurratulain Hyder's 'Malfuzat-e Haji Gulbaba Bektashi'" at the 36th Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI, October 12-14, 2007. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 10/13/2007.
  • "Why teach Hindi and Urdu in the US? Why in Northern Colorado?" at the symposium "Language Learning in the 21st Century" at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. Other, Presented, 05/03/2007.
  • "Lost (and added in translation); Gulzar and Qurratulain Hyder in Urdu and in Hindi", ICOSAL 6: International Conference on South-Asian Linguistics 6, hosted at the Hyderabad University (A.P.), India, organised by Prof. Jonnalagadda Venkanteshwari Shastry. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 01/07/2005.
  • ""Manovrtti" / "Apna Apna khayal": two titles, almost one story", International Conference on South-Asian Literatures and Languages ICON-SALILA (ICOSAL 5), Moscow State University, Russia. Conference Paper, Presented, 07/08/2003.

Languages

  • Hindi, fluent.
  • Urdu, fluent.

Geographical Regions of Interest

  • Southern Asia
    India, Pakistan, Bangladesh.

Publications

  • C. Everaert. Tracing the Boundaries between Hindi and Urdu: Lost and Added in Translation between 20th Century Short Stories. Brill, 2010. Brill E-Books. 26 October 2011 DOI:10.1163/ej.9789004177314.i-300.2. Published, 01/2010.
  • "The polarization of Hindi and Urdu" in Proceedings of Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2011, Osaka, Japan, April 2011, pp. 62-76. Published, 04/2011.
    http://iafor.org/accs_proceedings.html
  • Basisgrammatica van het Hindi, Met illustraties uit de moderne Hindi literatuur, ("Essential Grammar of Hindi, with examples taken from modern Hindi literary texts") Academia Press, 130 p., 2004. Published, 08/2004.
  • Christine Everaert (2023). "When Muslim rulers were like Hindu gods: History, Religion, and Identity in Bhagavatīcaraṇ Varmā’s The Mughals Gave the Sultanate Away". Journal of Asian Studies. Vol. 82:1, 44-65. Published, 02/01/2023.
    https://utah-primoprod.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/pe...
  • Sharma, Ghanshyam (Ed.) (2020).  “Muslims through the Hindi literature of Rāhī Māsūm Razā”. LINCOM-Europa. 428. Published, 05/01/2020.
  • Christine Everaert (2017). Essential Hindi Grammar: With Examples from Modern Hindi Literature. (pp. 181). University of Hawai'i Press. Published, 03/01/2017.
    http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-9754-9780824857875...
  • The precarious future of Sufism in South Asia in "Open Pages in South Asian Studies" by Russian State University/SASA Books, Proceedings of Conference April 25-26, 2013. Accepted, 04/2013.
  • Looking for the Hidden Colours of Sufism in the Shadow of a Song; in Exemplar The Journal of South Asian Studies, Volume 2 Number 1, Spring 2013, pp. 29-47. Published, 03/2013.
    http://www.sasaonline.net/exemplar-files/V2N1small...
  • Review of my book Tracing the Boundaries between Hindi and Urdu: Lost and Added in Translation between 20 Century Short Stories The Journal of Asian Studies, 2012, Vol.71(1), pp.289-290 [Peer Reviewed Journal]. Published, 02/2012.
    http://journals.cambridge.org.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu...