Woman-As-Symbol: Intersections of Indian Nationalism, Gender, and Identity

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Authors
Rao, Shakuntala
Issue Date
1999
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Article
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en_US
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Communication , Media , Ethics
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Abstract
The purpose of this article is to explore the connection between Indian nationalism and gender identity. I provide a critique of Radhakrishnan and Chatterjee's notion of the outer/inner dichotomy of Indian nationalism by stating that religion, in postcolonial India, has emerged as a discursive totality that has subsumed the politics of indigenous or inner identity more so than other rhetoric of caste, tribal, gender, and class. I provide a groundwork for this debate via the writings of Nehru and Gandhi. I conclude, through an analysis of the practices of amniocentesis and Sati, that women and their bodies have been used as representations of the conflicts surrounding national subjectivity.
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Originally published in the Women's Studies International Forum: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02775395
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Women's Studies International Forum
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