This volume brings together a rich collection of new work on the cultural interface of literature and gender, ranging from essays on medieval and Renaissance Europe to nineteenth-century politics and literature, women’s education in Bengal, the involvement of women in twentieth-century political movements, and representations in modern Indian film. The contributors are some of the most distinguished scholars of out time, working in Europe and in India. The essays look at questions such as the agency and representation of women in their history and their writings, the implications of gender in poetry and fiction, the possibility of a women’s writing, and the cultural space offered to women in the formation of national and social identities. Despite its rich diversity of subjects, the volume is linked by the common emphasis on a reading of gender and difference, and is marked by its careful ad rigorous attention to historical context and social reality. The contributors are united by their desire to honour one of India’s leading feminist critics, Jasodhara Bagchi, who has played a pioneering role in the formation of Women’s Studies as discipline as well as activist platform in the Indian context. Jasodhara Bagchi’s own work as Professor of English at Jadavpur University, as well as director of its school of women’s studies, has touched on many of the areas covered here. The volume is thus a fitting tribute to her life and work, while also representing a major addition to contemporary scholarship in the international context.
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