The ‘Other’ Universe

The ‘Other’ Universe is an attempt to situate the ‘Other’ the woman, ghettoized and invisibilized- at the very centre of scholarship and thus challenge the androcentrism pervading exiting systems of knowledge. A collection of fifty essays, this volume mirrors path-breaking empirical findings and theoretical insights in the inter disciplinary field of Woman studies by contributors ranging from the stalwarts in this field to young scholars. The book comprises nine sections each representing a long-standing or emergent arena of Woman’s studies. While the much-researched main / ‘male’ stream fields of knowledge like literature, history, sociology, political science, philosophy, economic, education and science are revisited through the gender lens, the volume also addressed newly burgeoning fields of feminist scholarship such as films, performance, travel and sexuality. There is a remarkable degree crossover with several contributors departing from their own disciplinary tracks and venturing into other domains of scholarship. The volume also addresses some of the pressing issues of that concern the contemporary women’s movement, particularly, issues of violence and punitive justice.

Emblematic of the increasing diversification of feminist scholarship, and showcasing the best of inter-disciplinary research, the book is a must read for all who are engaged in Woman’s studies as students. Teachers are researchers. It promises to equip the feminist activist with the much needed critical perspective and also draw the hitherto uninitiated to the field. It is a volume to be cherished by all.

Contents
Section I: Textual / sexual politics
From submission to Transgression: A study of Tagore’s Women in the short stories – Trayee Sinha
The anti-feminist note in Tagore’s raja –Madhumita Dutta
Tale-Transformations: Happily ever after? – Kuntala Sengupta
‘Enchanted’ or ‘Tangled’? Portrayal of Women in popular fairy tales and the need for an alternate canon – Sudeshna Chakravorty
Home and Beyond: The struggle of Women in post-partition Bengal as portrayed by Nerendranath Mitra -Madhumita Sen
Prem Chand: Glimpses of Women characters in his short stories and Novels. – Shaheen Sultana
Section II: Writing Her Voice: Eloquence and Silence
Women and Literature: Some female writer and female characters in Bengal Literature – Siuli Sarkar
Therigatha – A hallmark in the quest for Women’s liberation – Krishna Dasgupta
Writing her voice: Autobiography as expression of the self in nineteenth century Bengal – Anasuya Bhar
Discourses of silence and the voice of Muslim Women in colonial Bengal –Saika hassain
Three Guineas: Woolf’s concept for Women, War and Nation – Gargi Talapatra
Household and selfhood in colonial Bengal: Contextualizing Saratkumari Deb’s Amar sansar –Nandini Jana
When a Women’s autobiography becomes a Nation’s History – Riya Roy
Memsahibs in colonial India – Parna Ghosh
Mobile Women in Inter/National narratives: The Case of Gertrude Hudson and Krishnabhabini Das – Purna Banerjee
Under the Blazing Sun: Lady Sahib, Emily Eden’s passage through India –Kakoli Sinha Roy
Section III: Historical perspectives
Women’s Education and Empowerment: The Bengal scenario (from pre colonial to colonial times) – Uttra Chakraborty
Women in modern India: Changing position and attitudes – Samita Sen
Achievement and agony of Krishnabhabini Das: A social activist of the nineteenth century (1864-1919) –Gopa Dutta
Revisiting the Women question in late colonial Bengal – Aparna Bondyopadhyay
Women in Bengal Legislature 1937-1957: A survey – Bhaswati Chatterjee
Section IV: Performance and Films
The Inimitable Probha Devi: The prima donna of the new styled Theatre of Bengal in the 1930s – sarvani Goopta
Chokher Bali: A journey from Tagore to Rituparno Ghosh – Paramita Chaudhuri
Whose Icche or Desire? Looking into the film Icche in the Light of care Ethics – Sananda Sen
Imagining Mother-India; Critiquing Bollywood’s Construction of the cultural imagery of the nation-state – Surangama Guha
Section V: Politics and Society
Political realism: the Gender Way – Peu Ghosh
Globalization and its impact on lifestyles of Women: A study of Women’s Empowerment – Baisali Sinha
Inequalities within: A curious case of a diplomat, a maid and some Queries on Women’s Rights –Subhalakshmi pandey
Being a fair bride and craving for a fair bride: Reflections from the Bengali Matrimonial Columns – Aparnita Bhattacharjee
Old Women in India: Experiences of living with their Bodies – Sudarshana Sen
Pursuit of baby contouring; A choice or a compulsion? –Sumita Saha and Utkalika Saha
Born to Procreate: Tracing the figuration of the maternal body in assisted reproductive technologies – Pinaki Roy
Section VI: Religion
Gandhari the mother as reflected in the Mahabharata – Nandini Bhowmik
Apala and Ghosa: Two unmarried Women of the RG-veda – Mau Das Gupta
Women and Islam – Syeda Shariqatul Moula Alquadri
Section VII: Education and scince
Women’s higher education and self-reliance: Personal Reminiscences – Shafali Moitra
Women in core silences, Technology and Medicine: Bengal 1849-1949 –Chandrakala Dutta
Tragedies of pioneering Women Scientists – Chhanda Basu Chaudhuri and Srabani Chakrabarty
Section VIII: Professional / Labouring Women
Women in police in India – Tumpa Mukherjee
Maternity benefit in India – Mou Roy
Impact of Economic liberalization on gender wage inequality – A theoretical approach Somasree Roychowdhuri
In favour of human rights: A qualitative approach to welfare of the informal Women works of India – Sreemoyee Ghosh
Clay-based work in Kolkata with special reference to Women workers: Case study Kumartuli – Payal Bose Biswas
For bed and board only: Women and Girl children domestic workers in post-partition Calcutta (Reprint)-Ishita Chakravarty and Deepita Chakravarty
Section IX: Female sexuality: Commodification, Violence and Justice
The prostitution debate: Gender politics, Language and representation –Rongila Biswas
Desired and condemned: The paradox of prostitution in ancient India – Sutapa Mukhopadhyay
Female genital mutilation: Violence, violation and feminist interventions – Trijita Gonsalves
Sexual Violence, consumer culture and feminist politics: Rethinking the Critique of commodification – Sreenanti Banerjee
Capital punishment or chemical castration: The debate continues – Ranjita Biswas