Indo-Caribbean Feminist Thought: Genealogies, Theories, Enactments (New Caribbean Studies)

Bringing Together Three Generations Of Scholars, Thinkers And Activists, This Book Is The First To Trace A Genealogy Of The Specific Contributions Indo-caribbean Women Have Made To Caribbean Feminist Epistemology And Knowledge Production. Challenging The Centrality Of India In Considerations Of The Forms That Indo-caribbean Feminist Thought And Praxis Have Taken, The Authors Turn Instead To The Terrain Of Gender Negotiations Among Caribbean Men And Women Within And Across Racial, Class, Religious, And Political Affiliations. Addressing The Specific Conditions Which Emerged Within The Region And Highlighting The Cross-racial Solidarities And The Challenges To Narratives Of Purity That Have Been Constitutive Of Indo-caribbean Feminist Thought, This Collection Connects To The Broader Indentureship Diaspora And What Can Be Considered Post-indentureship Feminist Thought. Through Examinations Of Literature, Activism, Art, Biography, Scholarship And Public Sphere Practices, The Collection Highlights The Complexity And Richness Of Indo-caribbean Engagements With Feminism And Social Justice. Introduction: Interrogating An Indo-­caribbean Feminist Epistemology / Gabrielle Jamela Hosein And Lisa Outar -- Part I. Tracing The Emergence Of Indo-caribbean Feminist Perspectives. A Vindication For Indo-caribbean Feminism / Patricia Mohammed ; Indo-caribbean Feminist Epistemology: A Personal And Scholarly Journey / Preeia D. Surajbali ; My Mother's Baby: Wrecking Work After Indentureship / Andil Gosine -- Part Ii: Transgressive Storytelling. Seeing Greater Distances: An Interview With Peggy Mohan On The Voyages Of Indo-­caribbean Women / Alison Klein ; Indentureship, Land, And Indo-caribbean Feminist Thought In The Literature Of Rajkumari Singh And Mahadai Das / Anita Baksh ; Post-indentureship Cosmopolitan Feminism: Indo-caribbean And Indo-mauritian Women's Writing And The Public Sphere / Lisa Outar ; Mini Death, And A Rebirth: Talking The Crossing In Shani Mootoo's Moving Forward Sideways Like A Crab / Tuli Chatterji -- Part Iii: Art, Archives, And Cultural Practices. Comparative Caribbean Feminisms: Jahaji-­bhain In Carnival / Kavita Ashana Singh ; (un)settling The Politics Of Identity And Sexuality Among Indo-trinidadian Same-­sex Loving Women / Krystal Nandini Ghisyawan ; Seeing Difference: Visual Feminist Praxis, Identity, And Desire In Indo-caribbean Women's Art And Knowledge / Angelique V. Nixon ; Art, Violence, And Non-return: An Interview With Guadeloupean Artist Kelly Sinnapah Mary / Lisa Outar -- Part Iv: Dougla Feminisms. Dougla Poetics And Politics In Indo-caribbean Feminist Thought: Reflection And Reconceptualization / Gabrielle Jamela Hosein ; What's In A Name?: Nicki Minaj, Indian In/visibility, And The Paradox Of Dougla Feminism / Sue Ann Barratt ; Cutlass: Objects Toward A Theory Of Representation / Kaneesha Cherelle Parsard -- Part V: New Masculinities And Femininities. Indo-caribbean Masculinities And Indo-caribbean Feminisms: Where Are We Now? / Rhoda Reddock ; Belaboring Masculinity: Ecology, Work, And The Body In Michel Ponnamah's Dérive De Josaphat / Michael Niblett ; From Stigma To Shakti: The Politics Of Indo-guyanese Women's Trance And The Transformative Potentials Of Ecstatic Goddess Worship In New York City / Stephanie Lou Jackson. Gabrielle Jamela Hosein, Lisa Outar, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Acknowledgments 6 Contents 10 List of Figures 14 Chapter 1: Introduction: Interrogating an Indo-­Caribbean Feminist Epistemology 15 Feminist Navigations 20 Post-Indentureship Feminisms 23 Chapter Outlines 24 Part 1: Tracing the Emergence of Indo-Caribbean Feminist Perspectives 24 Part 2: Transgressive Storytelling 25 Part 3: Art, Archives, and Cultural Practices 26 Part 4: Dougla Feminisms 28 Part 5: New Masculinities and Femininities 29 Closing Thoughts 30 Works Cited 32 Part I: Tracing the Emergence of Indo- 34 Chapter 2: A Vindication for Indo-Caribbean Feminism 35 Autobiographical Insights 39 Education as Revolutionary Praxis 43 Conclusion 45 Notes 46 Works Cited 47 Chapter 3: Indo-Caribbean Feminist Epistemology: A Personal and Scholarly Journey 49 Notes 58 Works Cited 59 Chapter 4: My Mother’s Baby: Wrecking Work After Indentureship 61 The Wrecking Work of Indentureship 62 Wrecking Names 63 Wrecking Gender 65 Wrecking Time and Space 67 Conclusion 70 Works Cited 71 Part II: Transgressive Storytelling 73 Chapter 5: “Seeing Greater Distances”: An Interview with Peggy Mohan on the Voyages of Indo-­Caribbean Women 74 Works Cited 82 Chapter 6: Indentureship, Land, and Indo-Caribbean Feminist Thought in the Literature of Rajkumari Singh and Mahadai Das 84 Rajkumari Singh’s Vision of Art and Politics 87 Mahadai Das’ Connection to Ancestry and Land 94 Notes 100 Works Cited 100 Chapter 7: Post-Indentureship Cosmopolitan Feminism: Indo-Caribbean and Indo-Mauritian Women’s Writing and the Public Sphere 103 The Spectator, Feminism and the Public Sphere 105 Cosmopolitan Feminism and A Silent Life 108 Indo-Mauritian Feminist Interventions 111 Conclusion 120 Notes 121 Works Cited 121 Chapter 8: “Mini Death, and a Rebirth”: Talking the Crossing in Shani Mootoo’s Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab 123 Works Cited 139 Part III: Art, Archives, and Cultural Practices 141 Chapter 9: Comparative Caribbean Feminisms: Jahaji-­bhain in Carnival 142 Minimally Incommensurable, or Feminist Appropriation? 144 Minimally Incommensurable Jahaji-bhain 147 Translating Jamette to Jahaji-bhain 148 Doubly Diasporic Jahaji-bhain 153 “The Observer Does Not See Everything” 157 Notes 159 Works Cited 159 Chapter 10: (Un)Settling the Politics of Identity and Sexuality Among Indo-Trinidadian Same-­Sex Loving Women 161 Multivalent “Indo-Trinidadian” Experiences 164 “Respectability” and “Authenticity” 166 Bisexuality Is an Epistemological and Ontological Position 167 “... and Then You Go Online”: Cyber-Activism and Political Consciousness 169 Conclusion: Indo-Trinidadian Bisexual Politics 173 Notes 176 Works Cited 176 Chapter 11: Seeing Difference: Visual Feminist Praxis, Identity, and Desire in Indo-Caribbean Women’s Art and Knowledge 179 Introduction 179 Defining and Troubling Indo-Caribbean Feminist Thought 182 Terrains of Female Desire: Woman Loving Women and Radical Acts of Self-Care 185 Works Cited 199 Chapter 12: Art, Violence, and Non-return: An Interview with Guadeloupean Artist Kelly Sinnapah Mary 200 Part IV: Dougla Feminisms 210 Chapter 13: Dougla Poetics and Politics in Indo-Caribbean Feminist Thought: Reflection and Reconceptualization 211 Introduction 211 Reflection: Dougla Poetics and Feminism 213 Reconceptualization: Indo-Caribbean Feminist Poetics, Politics and Praxis 222 Notes 226 Works Cited 227 Chapter 14: What’s in a Name?: Nicki Minaj, Indian In/visibility, and the Paradox of Dougla Feminism 230 Introduction 230 “I’m Just a Bad Bitch”: Nicki Minaj Navigating Ethnicity, Gender, and Feminism 233 What’s in a Name? My Real Last Name Is Maraj 238 Conclusion 241 Notes 241 Works Cited 242 Chapter 15: Cutlass: Objects Toward a Theory of Representation 246 The Cutlass On the Plantation 250 The Cutlass as Art Object 255 Toward a Dougla Feminist Theory of Representation 260 Notes 262 Works Cited 263 Part V: New Masculinities and Femininities 266 Chapter 16: Indo-Caribbean Masculinities and Indo-­Caribbean Feminisms: Where Are We Now? 267 Indo-Caribbean Men in Caribbean Scholarship 268 Indo-Caribbean Masculinities in Literary Works 270 Feminist Scholars on Indo-Caribbean Masculinities 272 Early Feminist Histories 272 Alcohol 274 Public Performance: The Case of the Chutney Stage 276 Queer Masculinities and Sexualities 278 Nuancing the Narrative 280 Notes 282 Works Cited 282 Chapter 17: Belaboring Masculinity: Ecology, Work, and the Body in Michel Ponnamah’s Dérive de Josaphat 287 Masculinity, the Feminization of Labor, and the Indo-Martinican Literary Field 290 Waste, Unpaid Work, and the Reproduction of Material Life 296 Notes 301 Works Cited 303 Chapter 18: From Stigma to Shakti: The Politics of Indo-­Guyanese Women’s Trance and the Transformative Potentials of Ecstatic Goddess Worship in New York City 305 Discourses of Women’s Trance and Tradition 307 Trance as Experiential Knowledge and Feminist Agency 313 Analysis and Conclusion 319 Notes 321 Works Cited 321 Notes 331 Works Cited 332 Afterword 324 Notes 331 Works Cited 332 Postscript 333 Notes on Contributors 334 Index 338 Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction: Interrogating an Indo-Caribbean Feminist Epistemology....Pages 1-19 Front Matter....Pages 21-21 A Vindication for Indo-Caribbean Feminism....Pages 23-36 Indo-Caribbean Feminist Epistemology: A Personal and Scholarly Journey....Pages 37-48 My Mother’s Baby: Wrecking Work After Indentureship....Pages 49-60 Front Matter....Pages 61-61 “Seeing Greater Distances”: An Interview with Peggy Mohan on the Voyages of Indo-Caribbean Women....Pages 63-72 Indentureship, Land, and Indo-Caribbean Feminist Thought in the Literature of Rajkumari Singh and Mahadai Das....Pages 73-91 Post-Indentureship Cosmopolitan Feminism: Indo-Caribbean and Indo-Mauritian Women’s Writing and the Public Sphere....Pages 93-112 “Mini Death, and a Rebirth”: Talking the Crossing in Shani Mootoo’s Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab ....Pages 113-130 Front Matter....Pages 131-131 Comparative Caribbean Feminisms: Jahaji-bhain in Carnival....Pages 133-151 (Un)Settling the Politics of Identity and Sexuality Among Indo-Trinidadian Same-Sex Loving Women....Pages 153-170 Seeing Difference: Visual Feminist Praxis, Identity, and Desire in Indo-Caribbean Women’s Art and Knowledge....Pages 171-191 Art, Violence, and Non-return: An Interview with Guadeloupean Artist Kelly Sinnapah Mary....Pages 193-202 Front Matter....Pages 203-203 Dougla Poetics and Politics in Indo-Caribbean Feminist Thought: Reflection and Reconceptualization....Pages 205-223 What’s in a Name?: Nicki Minaj, Indian In/visibility, and the Paradox of Dougla Feminism....Pages 225-240 Cutlass: Objects Toward a Theory of Representation....Pages 241-260 Front Matter....Pages 261-261 Indo-Caribbean Masculinities and Indo-Caribbean Feminisms: Where Are We Now?....Pages 263-282 Belaboring Masculinity: Ecology, Work, and the Body in Michel Ponnamah’s Dérive de Josaphat ....Pages 283-300 From Stigma to Shakti: The Politics of Indo-Guyanese Women’s Trance and the Transformative Potentials of Ecstatic Goddess Worship in New York City....Pages 301-319 Back Matter....Pages 321-349 "Acknowledgments"--"Contents"--"List of Figures" -- "Chapter 1: Introduction: Interrogating an Indo-ÂƯCaribbean Feminist Epistemology" -- "Feminist Navigations" -- "Post-Indentureship Feminisms" -- "Chapter Outlines" -- "Part 1: Tracing the Emergence of Indo-Caribbean Feminist Perspectives" -- "Part 2: Transgressive Storytelling" -- "Part 3: Art, Archives, and Cultural Practices" -- "Part 4: Dougla Feminisms" -- "Part 5: New Masculinities and Femininities" -- "Closing Thoughts" -- "Works Cited" -- "Part I: Tracing the Emergence of Indo- Caribbean Feminist Perspectives" -- "Chapter 2: A Vindication for Indo-Caribbean Feminism" -- "Autobiographical Insights" -- "Education as Revolutionary Praxis" -- "Conclusion" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 3: Indo-Caribbean Feminist Epistemology: A Personal and Scholarly Journey" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 4: My Motherâ#x80;#x99;s Baby: Wrecking Work After Indentureship" -- "The Wrecking Work of Indentureship" -- "Wrecking Names" -- "Wrecking Gender" -- "Wrecking Time and Space" -- "Conclusion" -- "Works Cited" -- "Part II: Transgressive Storytelling" -- "Chapter 5: â#x80;#x9C;Seeing Greater Distancesâ#x80;#x9D;: An Interview with Peggy Mohan on the Voyages of Indo-ÂƯCaribbean Women" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 6: Indentureship, Land, and Indo-Caribbean Feminist Thought in the Literature of Rajkumari Singh and Mahadai Das" -- "Rajkumari Singhâ#x80;#x99;s Vision of Art and Politics" -- "Mahadai Dasâ#x80;#x99; Connection to Ancestry and Land" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited" -- "Chapter 7: Post-Indentureship Cosmopolitan Feminism: Indo-Caribbean and Indo-Mauritian Womenâ#x80;#x99;s Writing and the Public Sphere" -- "The Spectator, Feminism and the Public Sphere" -- "Cosmopolitan Feminism and A Silent Life" -- "Indo-Mauritian Feminist Interventions" -- "Conclusion" -- "Notes" -- "Works Cited."