My research topic will explore feminist thought and expression in contemporary India, primarily focusing on literacy/writing/literature as a means to explore the issues that surround understanding equality for women as rhetorical subjects in India’s story and now. India is the world’s largest democracy but named the worst G20 country to be a woman. Literacy rates for women are 20% below male counterparts, violent crime, female infanticide and vast challenges of sexuality, race, religion, caste and class play into how diverse “feminism” is for Indian women.
I am particularly interested in the rhetorical notion of women’s writing, as a writing of the “other,” writing of the bodily experience and audacity to challenge the Western/colonial/white/white/dominant canon. Writing about women by women, the writing of women’s bodies and the writing of difference is key to understanding the complexities of feminism in India. I hope that is the microcosm of feminism/writing can reflect the macrocosm that will be the India experience on exchange this fall.
I will base my research in an interdisciplinary way (religion, education, media…), stemming from the people I meet in my travels, resources I have in each place and writing on my own journey also as a part in the research. My initial idea is to create short writing pieces that would capture my experiences and place academic filter on my observations in each subject/experience/city etc. I would use all the resources I can, such as books, news, photographs and interviews with experts and subjects relevant to my research that create a snapshot of feminism in India for the people that will be looking at my work back at home and at school. I think that my research could turn into a senior thesis or further work in India. The rich and untold story of women needs to be more visible and more heard in the media, literary and academic circles. We are more connected and empowered than ever before to discuss intersectional feminism on a local and global scale. I would love to explore feminism in India because the subject is an essential part of who I am and what I believe in.
The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women’s Rights and Feminism in India, 1800-1990 by Radha Kumar
Gives key historical context to women’s movements and background to understanding contemporary feminist thought in India.
Recasting Women: Essays in Indian Colonial History edited by Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid
Diverse perspectives on the intersections of regional, caste and class within the framework of Indian colonialism and patriarchy in understanding feminist thought.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
One of the best known books on India written by a woman.
Singh, Sunny. “Gender And Caste In The Anglophone-Indian Novels Of Arundhati Roy And Githa Hariharan: Feminist Issues In Cross-Cultural Perspectives.” Signs: Journal Of Women In Culture & Society 32.3 (2007): 818-820.LGBT Life with Full Text. Web. 28 Aug. 2015.
Information on Arundhati Roy, one of the most prominent Indian woman writers in contemporary times and prominent in literary circles.
Contemporary Indian Feminism by Radha Kumar from Feminist Review No. 33 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 20-29
More literature from a prominent Indian feminist: a basic staple reading in understanding contemporary feminism.
Magedera, Ian H., and Kate Marsh. “‘Les cinq noms sonores’: the French voice in the story of British India 1763-1954.” Journal of Romance Studies 5.1 (2005): 65+. Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Aug. 2015.
Gives a good start on the concept of French feminism and its intersection with colonization, otherness and rhetorical difference for India under British colonization.
Ohira, Eiko. “The Thousand Faces of Night: a counter-narrative of bleeding womanhood.” ARIEL 42.3-4 (2011): 265+. Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Aug. 2015.
An analysis of women’s writing of the body in Indian culture.
The Hindus by Wendy Doniger
I read several snippets of this book over the summer, and it changed my perspective and opened up new ideas of otherness in Hinduism’s long history (women being a main focus).
The Laugh of the Medusa by Helene Cixous
A strong feminist rhetorical piece that lays much of the groundwork and inspiration for women’s writing in Western thought.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
This book is a 10-year journalistic project by an American woman who tells the tale of people living in the Mumbai airport slum, a Muslim woman being a central character.