Feminism and cultural studies in Asia
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Interventions : International Journal of Postcolonial Studies
Publication Date
2007
Volume
9
Issue
2
First Page
209
Last Page
218
Publisher
Routledge
Keywords
Asia, cultural studies, feminism, India, modernity, women's movement
Abstract
This paper marks significant moments in the trajectory of cultural studies in Asia in relation to feminism. It begins by contrasting the relationship of feminism and cultural studies in Western contexts such as Britain, where feminism disrupted a prior field, to feminism's foundational relationship to cultural studies in many Asian contexts, including India. The paper goes on to speculate on the nature of the unique link between culture, the nation and women in Asian historical contexts, which has made for a selective naming of feminism in particular as Western and inauthentic, with consequences for the already difficult relationship between women and modernity. Such shared problematics across countries with different histories and political trajectories extend to questions of translation and contemporary shifts from prior conceptions of feminist politics. The last part of the paper looks at the confluence of cultural studies and women's studies in India, contrasting the rich legacies of women's studies for cultural studies with more recent pedagogical challenges to feminism in the cultural studies classroom. At issue in the paper as whole, therefore, is the debt that cultural studies owes to feminism in non-Western contexts.
DOI
10.1080/13698010701409152
Print ISSN
1369801X
E-ISSN
1469929X
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2007 Routledge. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Niranjana, T. (2007). Feminism and cultural studies in Asia. Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 9(2), 209-218. doi: 10.1080/13698010701409152