On July 10th, the Department of English and Centre for Research conducted a seminar on women’s writings at 10.30 AM at the Seminar Hall. The session was led by Dr. Krishnan Unni P, Professor in English, Deshbandu College, Delhi University.  Students from the II, III UG and II PG classes attended the session. The speaker started off by deconstructing the phrase ‘women’s writing’.

He also discussed how sex and gender play a key role in the canonization of women’s writings. Victorian morality and its notions about pregnancy and menstruation in the late nineteenth century were assessed. Literary pieces of Angela Carter, Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva, Samuel Beckett and Diamela Eltit were also mentioned.

Women’s writing in Indian literature was analysed with due mentions from Dalit literature including authors like Bhama and Kumkum Sangari. An excerpt from Annie Ernaux’s novel ‘Do What They Say or Else’ was recited to deliberate about feminism. The speaker concluded by raising questions on the sexualization of women in society, rape, female anger and abortion. There was an interactive session where attendees debated on topics such as morality and the reluctance of authors in addressing taboo topics.