Embodying Motherhood

Perspectives from Contemporary India
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-93-5150-893-9
Verlag: SAGE Publications

Buch, Englisch, 252 Seiten, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 424 g

Embodying Motherhood examines motherhood discourse in urban India, in the context of prevailing motherhood ideologies from a feminist perspective. The authors’ particular location as mothers and feminist scholars within an urban Indian setting and their diverse disciplinary backgrounds in social sciences and literary and cultural studies informs the interdisciplinary and intersectional framework of the book.

The book engages with patriarchal motherhood ideologies and brings to the fore narratives of oppression and resistance. Covering a diverse landscape ranging from ancient myth and religion, psychoanalysis, care work, literature and cinema, the book explores the socio-economic and cultural frameworks within which women are constructed as ‘able’ or ‘disabled’ mothers. The notion of ‘deficit’ runs like a thread through the chapters, bringing to the fore the search for alternative and affirmative maternal subjectivities. The book contributes to an ongoing contemplation of the experience of contemporary motherhoods and seeks to engage with and transform motherhood discourse in India. It will be valuable reading for students and scholars of gender studies, psychoanalysis, literary and culture studies, and sociology, as well as all individuals who seek to find alternative ways of being mothers.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Aneja, Anu

Vaidya, Shubhangi

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Disembodied Mothers: Re-writing the maternal metaphor through goddess iconography - Anu Aneja
Anticipating the Mother’s Dream: Maternal subjectivity in psychoanalysis, literature and cinema - Anu Aneja
‘Mere Paas Maa Hai’ Reflections on representations of motherhood in Hindi cinema - Shubhangi Vaidya
‘More than a Mother’: Autism, motherhood discourse and lived experience - Shubhangi Vaidya
Capitalist Encounters: The motherhood pact - Anu Aneja
Of ‘Unfit’ Mothers: Disability, stereotypes and contestations - Shubhangi Vaidya
Mapping the Mother in France and India: Discursive revolutions - Anu Aneja
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Vaidya, Shubhangi
Shubhangi Vaidya is a sociologist by training and teaches at the School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. Her research interests are in the areas of disability studies, gender studies and culture. Parent of a young adult with autism, Shubhangi combines research and teaching with advocacy for the rights of persons with disability and their families. She has published research articles and chapters in edited volumes on gender and disability, and presented papers at national and international conferences. She enjoys writing for newspapers and magazines and is an avid reader of fiction and a movie buff. She lives with her two sons in New Delhi.

Aneja, Anu
Anu Aneja is currently Director of the School of Gender and Development Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, where she coordinates postgraduate programmes in women’s and gender studies. She has previously taught comparative literature and women’s studies courses at Ohio Wesleyan University, Ohio. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Penn State University, Pennsylvania and a BA in French from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her current research interests are in the areas of contemporary feminist theory, motherhood studies, and distance education and feminist pedagogy. She has published widely in the area of French and francophone feminist literature, and on postmodern and postcolonial writers. Her other interests include clay sculpture and creative writing.