Sakhiyani : lesbian desire in ancient and modern India / Giti Thadani.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thadani, Giti, author.

Series:

Bloomsbury academic collections. Gender studies.

Bloomsbury academic collections. Gender studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lesbianism--India--History.

Lesbianism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (162 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London, England : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Place of Publication:

London, England : Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.

Summary:

"The product of many years of research, this unique book presents fascinating perspectives on contemporary lesbian life in India and unravels some of the history of lesbian desire from centuries past. Through detailed examination of mythology, cosmology, ancient art and artefacts and her exegesis of ancient Sanskrit texts, Thadani constructs a tapestry of feminine kinship, genealogy and sexual or erotic bonding between women ( sakhiyani ) in ancient India. The author offers an historical perspective on the effect of colonization upon lesbian identities in India, showing how women were viewed by Western imperialists either as soft victims or as sexually dangerous, possessing an overgrown clitoris and in need of heterosexual domestication. The second half of the book focuses on contemporary lesbian realities and issues, including lesbian marriages, suicide pacts, forging lesbian space, lesbian human rights, lesbophobia, sexual exile and the different construction of gender, family and possible kinship alliances."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Contents; Dedication; Preface; Acknowledgements; Glossary; 1

Lesbian Invisibility; Lesbian cosmography; A note on language; Notes; 2

The Dual Feminine; The dual feminine mosaic; Feminine triangles; Notes; 3

The Myths of Usha and Urvashi; Urvashi and Pururvas; Nirriti and the semiotics of death and knowledge; 4

The Control of Lesbian Sexuality; Embryology and medicalization; Myths of sexual inversion; Notes; 5

Legacies of Colonialism; Language and issues of identity; The colonial legacy; Notes; 6

Westernization; Those poor things

Lesbianism, a personal problem7

Love and Death; Lesbian marriages; Notes; 8

Lesbian Identities; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

First published in 1996 by Cassell.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed August 31, 2016).

ISBN:

9781474287050

1474287050

9781474287043

1474287042

OCLC:

957525060