'‘India 1901: The Birth of the ‘Indian Woman’? 1901 as metaphor for the sexual politics of Indian democracy.’
Abstract
This paper briefly examines the politico-epistemic practices which helped to construct the historical identity of the subject “Indian woman”. Which discursive processes were in operation at the time, and up to what point do they define contemporary Indian identity? After a brief historical survey of the nineteenth century, and the major turn of the century reforms, the paper discusses Gandhian ideology in relation to Indian women. It explores the subject “Indian woman” in the year 2001, one century later and the repercussions of 1901.