Texts written by feminist activists, whom I have interviewed from 2011 – 2014 in the South Indian state of Telangana, give my research the framework to highlight resistance and subjectivity formations. It, therefore, depicts three interwoven processes. First, it discusses writing as a form of resistance and analyses why this form of resistance also initiated subjectivity formations and vice versa. Secondly, this research introduces texts, such as prose and short stories, to identify societal discourses and their interrelation with the activists´ biographies. Thirdly, it studies the construction of the ‘other’ in the women´s biographies, in the texts written by those activists and lastly within the women´s movements of Telangana.
Neither the resistance nor the subjectivity formations are understood as a static or chronological process but rather as a dynamic which varies from individual, group, place, space and time. As positions and perspectives are changed, revised and challenged over time, this research is a snap-shot of a moment and engages in the dynamic of the above mentioned discourses.
Looking at the feminists´ biographies, they reflect multiple positions and perspectives deriving from caste, economic class, age, religion, sexual orientation and location, among others. This study, however, does not draw similarities or differences between the feminists´ biographies or texts but rather emphasises on the intersectionality of their biographies, work and the diversity of feminist writings. The analysis of this study suggests that discourses around resistances and subjectivity processes are an important part of feminist literature, which is an integral part of feminist movements. They are a tool to deconstruct gender dichotomies as well as power structures. Power deriving from the movements and within the movements becomes a tool for a fluid, transformative process towards societal change.
Publications:
Feminist Collective Activism in Telangana, South India. Exemplary by the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samatha Society, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2014, ISSN 2052-8396 (Online), pp. 17-27.
Feminist Personalities and Their Literary Texts: An Analysis on Resistance and Subjectivity, Women´s Link, Indian Social Institute, Vol. 19, No. 4, October – December 2013.
