Areas of expertise
Biography
I am Professor of English and Head of Department at the University of Turku. My special interest is on Salman Rushdie’s works, and I have published widely on Rushdie, and on Indian English literature in general. I have my PhD on Rushdie from the University of Tampere, Finland (1998).
I have the title of docent in Contemporary culture from the University of Jyväskylä, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Music, Art and Culture Studies (2005).
I have also translated three books into Finnish: Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities (Kuvitellut yhteisöt 2007), Paulo Freire's The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Sorrettujen pedagogiikka 2004), and Andrew Blake's The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter: Kid-lit in a Globalised World (Harry Potterin ilmestys: lastenkirjallisuus globalisoituvassa maailmassa 2004).
I have additional interests in Finnish non-fiction writing and Finnish literary narratives (novels, short stories and poetry) on academic life.
Teaching
My main field in teaching is literature. I have taught seminars, proseminars, literary theory and methodology and various elective courses.
Research
My major research interests are in postcolonial theory, Indian literature in English, transnational identity, diaspora, hybridity, gender and cultural studies. In my recent works, I have studied especially transculturation in literary and cultural contexts. I was the principal investigator of the Out of the Ordinary project (The Academy of Finland, 2014–2017).