Research Catalog

Title

Sakhiyani : lesbian desire in ancient and modern India / Giti Thadani.

Author

Thadani, Giti.

Publication

London ; New York : Cassell, 1996.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xi, 129 pages : color illustrations; 23 cm

Summary

"The product of many years of research, this unique book presents fascinating perspectives on contemporary lesbian life in India and unravels some of the history of lesbian desire from centuries past." "Through detailed examination of mythology, cosmology, ancient art and artefacts and her exegesis of ancient Sanskrit texts, the author constructs a tapestry of feminine kinship, genealogy and sexual or erotic bonding between women (sakhiyani) in ancient India. Thadani goes on to offer an historical perspective on the effect of colonialization upon lesbian identities in India, showing how women were viewed by Western imperialists either as soft victims or as sexually dangerous, possessing an overgrown clitoris and in need of heterosexual domestication." "The second half of the book focuses on contemporary lesbian realities and issues, including lesbian marriages, suicide pacts, forging lesbian space, lesbian human rights, lesbophobia, sexual exile and the different constructions of gender, family and possible kinship alliances."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• Lesbianism > India > History
• Lesbianism
• Lesbische Orientierung
• India
• Indien

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 124-127) and index.

Contents

Preface -- Glossary -- Lesbian invisibility -- The dual feminine -- The myths of Usha and Urvashi -- The control of lesbian sexuality -- Legacies of colonialism -- Westernization -- Love and death -- Lesbian identities -- Bibliography -- Index.

ISBN

• 0304334510
• 9780304334513
• 0304334529
• 9780304334520

LCCN

96218441

OCLC

• ocm35768650
• 35768650
• SCSB-14692233

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library