Embodied Violence
Communalising Female Sexuality in South Asia
Published on 1. November 1996
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-85649-448-9 (ISBN)
Description
This book is a major investigation into the myriad of ways in which societies play out the struggle for cultural identity on women's bodies. It explores the relationship between ideals of motherhood, tradition, community and racial purity and uncovers the ways in which women's bodies become the recording surface of repressive cultural practices and 'symbolic' humiliations. The distinguished cast of contributors explore a wide range of issues ranging from the status of women as bargaining counters of national identity in India after independence and partition to the presence of women as an empowered presence in Hindu nationalism, from the legal definition and legitimation of sexual violence to the relationship between an idealised nationalist femininity and the tourist trade in Sri Lanka. This is an essential book for anyone exploring contemporary debates around feminism and post-colonial theory in South Asia.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN-13
978-1-85649-448-9 (9781856494489)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Kumari Jayawardena is a leading feminist figure and academic in Sri Lanka. Her other books include Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World (Zed Books, 1986).
Malathi (Mala) de Alwis is a feminist scholar and activist at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her other books include Feminists Under Fire (2003).
Malathi (Mala) de Alwis is a feminist scholar and activist at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her other books include Feminists Under Fire (2003).
Content
1. Abducted Women, the State and Questions of Honour: Three Perspectives on the Recovery Operation in Post-Partition India - Ritu Menon and Kamla Bhasin
2. Rape and the Construction of Communal Identity - Kalpana Kannabiran
3. Discursive Strategies and Exclusivities: Gender, Nationalism(s) and Cultural Identity - Shahnaz Rouse
4. Inside the Andar Mahal: Muslim Women in the Private Sphere in Colonial Bengal - Sonia Nishat Amin
5. Sexuality in the Field of Vision: The Discursive Clothing of the Sigiriya Frescoes - Malathi de Alwis
6. Ethnicity and the Empowerment of Women: The Colonial Legacy - Jasodhara Bagchi
7. Hindu Nationalist Women as Ideologues: The 'Sangh' the 'Samiti' and their Differential Concept of the Hindu Nation - Paola Bacchetta
8. Static Signifiers? Metaphors of Woman in Contemporary Sri Lankan War Poetry - Neloufer de Mel
9. The Myth of 'Patriots' and 'Traitors': Pandita Ramabai, Brahmanical Patriarchy, and Militant Hindu Nationalism - Uma Chakravarti
10. Institutions, Beliefs, Ideologies: Widow-Immolation in Contemporary Rajasthan - Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid
2. Rape and the Construction of Communal Identity - Kalpana Kannabiran
3. Discursive Strategies and Exclusivities: Gender, Nationalism(s) and Cultural Identity - Shahnaz Rouse
4. Inside the Andar Mahal: Muslim Women in the Private Sphere in Colonial Bengal - Sonia Nishat Amin
5. Sexuality in the Field of Vision: The Discursive Clothing of the Sigiriya Frescoes - Malathi de Alwis
6. Ethnicity and the Empowerment of Women: The Colonial Legacy - Jasodhara Bagchi
7. Hindu Nationalist Women as Ideologues: The 'Sangh' the 'Samiti' and their Differential Concept of the Hindu Nation - Paola Bacchetta
8. Static Signifiers? Metaphors of Woman in Contemporary Sri Lankan War Poetry - Neloufer de Mel
9. The Myth of 'Patriots' and 'Traitors': Pandita Ramabai, Brahmanical Patriarchy, and Militant Hindu Nationalism - Uma Chakravarti
10. Institutions, Beliefs, Ideologies: Widow-Immolation in Contemporary Rajasthan - Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid