School of Critical Studies

Dr Ophira Gamliel

Lecturer in South Asian Religions (Theology & Religious Studies)

ORCID iD https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1942-8870

Research interests

My main areas of research are in South Asian languages, cultures, and religions, past and present. I am especially interested in the history of connections and exchanges between religions and regions, communities and generations, peoples and institutions. Specifically, my area of expertise is Kerala history and culture, and Malayalam language and literature.

I studied and taught Sanskrit and Malayalam in Jerusalem and in Germany (Bochum and Tübingen). I am especially interested in event structures and semantic bleaching in various languages, including Hebrew, my native language.

I work on performance and ritual studies, especially in the context of shared festivals, and on the documentation and preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Grants

Kerala State Higher Education Council Grant Erudite Scholar Lecture Series (2018)
Aranmula Award of the Third International Kerala History Conference (2015)
Käte Hamburger Kolleg project “Sensory Devotion and Inter-religious Encounters: Shared Festivals in Kerala (South India)” (2015)
Rothschild Fellowship for Post-Doctoral Studies Malayalam linguistics with Venugopala Panicker (2010)
Ben-Zvi Institute Grant: Documentation of Jewish Malayalam, in collaboration with Jarmo Forsström (2008-2009)
Jewish Languages Department Morag Award, Hebrew University (2008)
Rotenstreich Fellowship Grant, Hebrew University (2004-2008)
Sternberg Prize for Interfaith Understanding, Hebrew University (2000)

Supervision

I am happy to supervise PhD projects on the religions, cultures, history, and literature of South Asia, past and present.

I welcome projects on a wide range of topics: material culture, religiolects and dialects, language documentation, Sanskrit literature, Hindu and Buddhist philosophy and religion, Classical Malayalam literature, Malayalam language and linguistics, temple theater and perfromance studies, and Jewish history in the Indian Ocean in premodern and early modern times.

I would be happy to supervise new and exciting projects in and around the areas of my expertise.

Teaching

I teach Hinduism and Buddhism literature and philosophy, and an Honors course on religion and trade in premodern Asia, focusing on the Malabar Coast.

I convene a course on mysticism and spirituality, with a focus on theoretical and methodological approaches to the topic.

I teach Malayalam and Sanskrit and convene a Malayalam summer school (here)

Additional Information

I co-produced with Edo Amin (Reliable Productions) two video films based on the documented material collected by the project Mantrāṅkam (watch) and The Best Snack Ever (watch).

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2006 | 2005 | 2002 | 2001 | 1999

Number of items: 40.

2019

Gamliel, O. (2019) My love affair with Kerala and its Jewish heritage. In: Mathew, K.S. and Nair, Y. (eds.) One Heart Two Worlds: The Story of the Jews of Kochi. Stark World: Thiruvananthapuram, pp. 112-113. ISBN 9789382548034

Gamliel, O. (2019) Judaism in South India ca. 900s-1950s: Relocating Malabar Jewry. Arc Humanities Press: Michigan. ISBN 9781641890670 (In Press)

2018

Gamliel, O. (2018) Who was the Fadiyār? Conflating textual evidence in Judeo-Arabic and Old Malayalam. Ginzei Qedem Genizah Research Annual, 14, pp. 9-42.

Cuffel, A. and Gamliel, O. (2018) Historical engagements and interreligious encounters - Jews and Christians in premodern and early modern Asia and Africa. Entangled Religions, 6, pp. 1-33. (doi:10.13154/er.v6.2018.1-33)

Gamliel, O. (2018) Aśu the convert: a slave girl or a Nāyar land owner? Entangled Religions, 6, pp. 201-246. (doi:10.13154/er.v6.2018.201-246)

Gamliel, O. (2018) Back from Shingly: revisiting the premodern history of Jews in Kerala. Indian Economic and Social History Review, 55(1), pp. 53-76. (doi:10.1177/0019464617745926)

Gamliel, O. (2018) Introduction to Malayalam Grammar. Magnes Press: Jerusalem. (In Press)

Gamliel, O. (2018) Jewish Malayalam in Southern India. In: Hary, B. and Benor, S. B. (eds.) Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present. Series: Contributions to the sociology of language. De Gruyter: Berlin, pp. 356-378. ISBN 9781501504631 (In Press)

Gamliel, O. (2018) The Mantrâṅkam Paribhāṣa from historical linguistics perspective. In: Oberlin, H., Shulman, D. and Mucciarelli, E. (eds.) Two Masterpieces of Kūṭiyāṭṭam: Mantrāṅkam and Aṅgulīyāṅkam. Oxford University Press: New Delhi. (In Press)

Gamliel, O. (2018) On the warp and woof of language: Arabic, Malayalam and the Muḥyidīn Māla. Iśal Paitṛkam,

Gamliel, O. (2018) Review of A Unique Hebrew Glossary from India: An Analysis of Judeo-Urdu by Aaron D. Rubin. Journal of Jewish Languages, [Book Review] (In Press)

Gamliel, O. (2018) Review of Homo Ritualis: Hindu Ritual and its Significance for Ritual Theory by Axel Michaels. Entangled Religions, [Book Review] (In Press)

Gamliel, O. (2018) The Syntactic Roles of Touch in Shared Festivals in Kerala. Working Paper. Bochum Online Companion to Eurasian Religions in Contact, Bochum, Germany.

Gamliel, O. (2018) Textual crossroads and transregional encounters: Jewish networks in Kerala 900s-1600s. Social Orbit, 4(1), pp. 41-73.

2017

Gamliel, O. (2017) Fading memories and linguistic fossils in Jewish Malayalam. In: Kasten, E., Roller, K. and Wilbur, J. (eds.) Oral History Meets Linguistics. Fürstenberg/Havel: Kulturstiftung Sibirien, pp. 83-106. ISBN 9783942883306

2016

Gamliel, O. (2016) The syntax of performance: the Mantrâṅkam as a case study. Nartanam: a Quarterly Journal on Indian Dance, XVI(3), pp. 166-194.

Gamliel, O. (2016) Jewish Malayalam. In: Handbook of Jewish Languages. Series: Brill's handbooks in linguistics. Brill, pp. 503-516. ISBN 9789004217331 (doi:10.1163/9789004297357_017)

2015

Gamliel, O. and Amin, E. (2015) Mantrāṅkam: Excerpts from the Puṟappāṭә (Malayalam and Sanskrit, with English subtitles). [Audio]

Gamliel, O. and Mar’i, A. a.-R. (2015) Bleached verbs as aspectual auxiliaries in colloquial modern Hebrew and Arabic dialects. In: Doron, E., Tirosh-Becker, O. and Benor, S. (eds.) Language Contact and the Development of Modern Hebrew. Series: Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics (84). Brill Academic Publishers, pp. 49-62. ISBN 9789004302006 (doi:10.1163/9789004310896_005)

2014

Gamliel, O. and Amin, E. (2014) Best Snack Ever (with English subtitles). [Audio]

Gamliel, O. (2014) Jewish Malayam. In: Stillman, N. A. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Brill Online. (doi:10.1163/1878-9781_ejiw_COM_000710)

Gamliel, O. (2014) Translation genres in Jewish Malayalam: stylistic and linguistic examination. Massorot, 16, pp. 137-172.

2013

Gamliel, O. (2013) The Hebrew component in Jewish Malayalam. In: Khan, G. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics. Brill: Leiden ; Boston, pp. 410-413. ISBN 9789004176423

Gamliel, O. (2013) Voices yet to be heard: on listening to the last speakers of Jewish Malayalam. Journal of Jewish Languages, 1(1), pp. 135-167. (doi:10.1163/22134638-12340004)

Gamliel, O. (2013) The neglected history of Kerala Jews. Zmanim, 122, pp. 16-29.

2012

Gamliel, O. (2012) ‘And the women sing their songs’: the wedding songs of Kerala Jews. In: Pedaya, H. (ed.) ha-Piyut ke-tsohar Tarbuti : Kivunim Hadashim la-Havanat ha-Piyut ule-Havnayuto ha-Tarbutit = The Piyyut as a Cultural Prism : New Approaches. Van-Leer Institute: Jerusalem, pp. 266-315. ISBN 9789650206567

2010

Gamliel, O. (2010) The correct path to India. Haaretz, 7 Jul.

Gamliel, O. (2010) Documenting Jewish Malayalam in Israel: fieldwork description and data analysis. TAPASAM: A Quarterly Journal of Kerala Studies, 6(1), pp. 3-39.

Gamliel, O. (2010) Review of Narratology: Indian Perspectives by C. Rajendran. Advar Library Bulletin, 72-73, pp. 349-358. [Book Review]

2009

Gamliel, O. (2009) Jewish Malayalam. International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics, 38(1), pp. 147-175.

Gamliel, O. (2009) ‘Kerala project’: on documenting the linguistic heritage of Kerala Jews. Pe'amim, 122, pp. 129-153.

Gamliel, O. (2009) Oral literary forms in Jewish Malayalam. Journal of Indo-Judaic Studies, 10, pp. 47-60.

2008

Gamliel, O. (2008) Malayalam folksongs. In: Shulman, D. and Weil, S. (eds.) Karmic Passages: Israeli Scholarship on India. Oxford University Press: New Delhi l New York, pp. 46-82. ISBN 9780195697070

2006

Gamliel, O. (2006) Review of The Jews of Kerala, by P. M. Jussay. TAPASAM: A Quarterly Journal of Kerala Studies, 1(3), pp. 685-695. [Book Review]

2005

Gamliel, O. (2005) Hey there! Have you ever seen a parrot? Notes about the sukasandesam. TAPASAM: A Quarterly Journal of Kerala Studies, 1(2), pp. 284-314.

Gamliel, O. (2005) The vigil night song. TAPASAM: A Quarterly Journal of Kerala Studies, 1(3), pp. 548-574.

Sakkar̲iya, S., Gamliel, O. and Johnson, B. C. (2005) Kārkul̲ali - Yefefiah - Gorgeous! : Jewish Women's Songs in Malayalam with Hebrew Translations. Ben Zvi Institute: Jerusalem. ISBN 9789652351005

2002

Gamliel, O. (2002) From the Rāmāyaṇa to the cloud messenger: the Kāvya genre in Sanskrit literature. In: Wasserman, N. (ed.) Hutim Nitvim: Reshitan Shel Sugot Sifrutiyot Be-tarbuyot `Atikot = Wool from the Loom: The Development of Literary Genres in Ancient Literature. Magnes Press: Jerusalem, pp. 125-148. ISBN 9789654931243

2001

Gamlîel, O. (2001) Yogim, Melakhim Ve-nashim Shememiyot = Yogis, Kings and Celestial Women: Translations of Selected Sanskrit Myths. Series: Sidrat Kôtarîm. Keter: Jerusalem. ISBN 9789650709693

1999

Gamliel, O. and Shulman, D. (1999) Shivah be-ya`ar ha-oranim: sipurim meha-mitologyah ha-Hodit = Shiva in the Forest of Pines: Translations of Selected Sanskrit Myths. Series: Sidrat Kôtarîm. Keter: Jerusalem. ISBN 9789650708054

This list was generated on Mon May 20 05:22:02 2019 BST.