Book chapter
An Epistemology of Collusion: Hijras, Kothis and the Historical (Dis) Continuity of Gender/Sexual Identities in Eastern India
Gender History Across Epistemologies, pp.305-329
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
04/02/2013
DOI: 10.1002/9781118508206.ch14
Abstract
The visible emergence of gender/sexual identities in many postcolonial societies has raised complex questions regarding the relation between historical precursors of same‐sex desire and gender variance and emergent forms of gender/sexual identification. In this context, this article examines the relation of hijra and kothi, two vernacular and putatively indigenous categories of gender/sexual difference in India, with postcolonial processes of identity formation. Through multi‐sited ethnographic fieldwork, the article proposes that collusions between subcultures and postcolonial institutions result in the translocal consolidation of gender/sexual identities like hijra and kothi. This continuity between subcultural and institutional processes of identity formation results in historical discontinuities where emergent standardised definitions increasingly elide local variations in community and identity.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- An Epistemology of Collusion: Hijras, Kothis and the Historical (Dis) Continuity of Gender/Sexual Identities in Eastern India
- Creators
- Aniruddha Dutta
- Contributors
- Donna R Gabaccia (Editor)Mary Jo Maynes (Editor)
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- Gender History Across Epistemologies, pp.305-329
- DOI
- 10.1002/9781118508206.ch14
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; Oxford, UK
- Number of pages
- 25
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/02/2013
- Academic Unit
- Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures; Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies; Interdisciplinary Programs
- Record Identifier
- 9984270190502771
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