I am a scholar of the literary and religious traditions of South Asia. Primarily my interest lies in how narrative literature serves as a site for religious or sectarian identity development or assertion, either through the content of the work itself (e.g., through polemical or parodic representations of the “other”) or through the ways communities engage with such works (e.g., through incorporation into rituals or certain interpretational practices).

Under this broad umbrella are several related areas of focus in my research, including the morally formative aspects of aesthetics and representations of non-human beings, especially those deemed to be ghoulish or gruesome (e.g., the pēy in Tamil literature). I work on literature and religious interactions between Tamil-speaking Jain, Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, and Christian communities.

My work also expands into the modern period, accounting for textual reception histories, including the reception and deployment of premodern narratives by modern political movements and the continued adaptation of stories toward new ends. I position my research at the intersections of literary studies, religious studies, and history.