Spring 2004

ANT 324L • Gender/Nationalism in South Asia-W

Course Description

This course explores the place of gender in various nationalist movements by reviewing i) the emergence of third world feminisms during the nationalist phase and their relationships to nationalist ideologies, and ii) the relationship of third world (nationalist) feminisms to western feminisms also emergent during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The course begins with an overview of major theoretical dynamics (the relationship of Orientialist discourses to nationalist and feminist ideologies), then moves to an examination of India and as a paradigmatic cases to understand the impact of what has been called "imperial feminism" and "masculinist nationalism" upon early feminist understandings of gender. Case studies for other countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) will also be examined.

Texts

Partha Chatterjee: The Nation and its Fragments Barbara Metcalf: Bhishti Zewar Rokheya Hussain: The Secluded Ones Taslima Nasrin: Lajja Kumari Jawawardene: Nationalism and Feminism in the Third World Radha Kumar: A History of Doing Susie Tharu and K. Lalitha (eds): Women Writing in India (Vols I and II)

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