Mithu Sanyal

The Sellout meets Interior Chinatown in this satirical debut about a German Indian student whose world is upended when she discovers that her beloved professor who passed for Indian is, in fact, white. Nivedita (a.k.a. Identitti), a well-known blogger and doctoral student is, in awe of her supervisor--superstar postcolonial and race studies professor Saraswati. But her life and sense of self are turned upside down when it emerges that Saraswati is actually white. Nivedita's praise of Saraswati during a radio interview just hours before the news breaks--and before she learns the truth--calls into question her own reputation as a young activist. Following the uproar, Nivedita is forced to reflect on the key moments in her life, when she doubted her identity and her place in the world. As debates on the scandal rage on social media, blogs, and among her closest friends, Nivedita's assumptions are called into question as she reconsiders the lessons she learned from her adored professor. In her thought-provoking, genre-bending debut, Mithu Sanyal enlisted the contributions and commentary of real life public intellectuals as if Saraswati were a real person. A darkly comedic tour de force, Identitti showcases the outsized power of social media in the current debates about identity politics and the power of claiming your own voice.

Identitti

"A searing satire, one similar to those of Percival Everett or Paul Beatty.... Sanyal has created an exhaustively researched, entertaining, and timely novel about the ways social media and scandals dictate so much of the discourse about identity politics." —Starred review, Booklist Nivedita (a.k.a. Identitti), a well-known blogger and doctoral student is in awe of her supervisor—superstar postcolonial and race studies South-Asian professor Saraswati. But her life and sense of self are turned upside down when it emerges that Saraswati is actually white. Nivedita’s praise of her professor during a radio interview just hours before the news breaks—and before she learns the truth—calls into question her own reputation as a young activist. Following the uproar, Nivedita is forced to reflect on the key moments in her life, when she doubted her identity and her place in the world. As debates on the scandal rage on social media, blogs, and among her closest friends, Nivedita’s assumptions are called into question as she reconsiders the lessons she learned from her adored professor. In her thought-provoking, genre-bending debut, Mithu Sanyal solicited the contributions and commentary of public intellectuals as if Saraswati were a real person. A darkly comedic tour de force, Identitti showcases the outsized power of social media in the current debates about identity politics and the power of claiming your own voice.

A Novel

A bold, honest and unflinching look at the way we talk and think about rape Thanks to Title IX cases, #MeToo, and #Times Up, the issue of rape seems to be constantly in the news. But our thinking on the subject has a long history, one that cultural critic Mithu Sanyal elegantly reconstructs. She narrates a history spanning from Lucretia--whose legendary rape and suicide was said to be the downfall of the last Roman king--to second-wave feminism, Tarzan, and Roman Polanski. Sanyal demonstrates that the way we understand rape is remarkably (and alarmingly) consistent across the ages, even though the world has changed beyond recognition. It is high time for a new and informed debate about sexual violence, sexual boundaries, and consent. Mithu Sanyal shows that our comprehension of rape is closely connected to our understanding of sex, sexuality, and gender. Why is it that we expect victims to be irreparably damaged? When we think of rapists, why do we think of strangers rather than uncles, husbands, priests, or boyfriends? And in the era of #MeToo, what should "justice" look like? Rape: From Lucretia to #MeToo examines the role of race and the recurrent image of the black rapist, the omission of male victims, and what we mean when we talk about "rape culture." Sanyal takes on every received opinion we have about rape, arguing with liberals, conservatives, and feminists alike.

Rape

Anti Christie

Panashe Chigumadzi

Azhari Aiyub

Javirroyo

Salvador Peña Martín

Cristina Judar

Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil

Miren Agur Meabe

Laura Emilia Pacheco

Nesrine Khoury

Uxue Alberdi

harriet c. brown

Inmaculada C. Pérez Parra

Claudia Cabrera

Gemma Deza Guil

Relatos lumbung

THE SELLOUT meets INTERIOR CHINATOWN in this satirical debut about race, sexuality and truth. German-Polish-Indian student Nivedita's world is upended when she discovers that her beloved professor who passed for Indian was born white. Nivedita (a.k.a. Identitti), a doctoral student who blogs about race with the help of Hindu goddess Kali, is in awe of Saraswati, her outrageous superstar post-colonial and race studies tutor. But Nivedita's life and sense of self begin to unravel when it emerges that Saraswati is actually white. Hours before she learns the truth Nivedita praises her tutor in a radio interview, jeopardising her own reputation and igniting an angry backlash among her peers and online community. Dumped by her boyfriend and disowned by her friends in the uproar, Nivedita is drawn to her supervisor in search of answers not only about Saraswati's identity, but also around her own. In her thought-provoking, complex and genre-bending debut, Mithu Sanyal collages commentary from real-life intellectuals, blogs, articles, race theory and academic warfare, combining campus novel and coming-of-age drama. A darkly comedic tour de force astutely translated by Alta L. Price, Identitti showcases the outsized power of social media in the current debates around identity politics and the power of claiming your own voice.

Identitti, la primera novela de la investigadora y periodista Mithu Sanyal, autora de los célebres e incisivos ensayos Vulva (2012) y Violación (2019), profundiza en los debates actuales en torno a la política identitaria y el racismo, los disecciona y se burla de ellos. Con un ritmo vertiginoso y mucho ingenio, la historia parte de un escándalo en torno a una docente estrella del poscolonialismo. La profesora Saraswati, catedrática de Estudios Poscoloniales en Düsseldorf y en la vanguardia de los debates de política identitaria, quien se presenta a sí misma como una persona racializada, resulta ser una mujer blanca en cuya partida de nacimiento aparece como Sarah Vera Thielmann. Su alumna y bloguera Nivedita Anand escribe en su web y en redes sociales bajo los seudónimos de Identitti o Wonderwoman Mestiza, y está harta de que le pregunten de dónde es. Nacida en Alemania y de padre indio, Nivedita admira a su profesora y se siente defraudada y furiosa, pero ¿qué es la identidad en realidad? Mientras Saraswati recibe amenazas en internet y los manifestantes exigen su despido, Nivedita la interroga: ¿nuestra identidad es simplemente nuestra personalidad, o está más definida por nuestro género o color de piel? ¿Es posible deshacerse de la blanquitud? ¿Qué tiene el sexo que ver con todo esto? Este libro es como si Sally Rooney, Beyoncé y Frantz Fanon vieran juntas Sex Education. La diosa hindú Kali, bell hooks, Judith Butler, Spivak o Foucault desfilan por esta apasionante novela que ha sido un éxito en Alemania: en 2021 ganó el Premio Ruhr de Literatura, el Premio Ernst Bloch y fue finalista del Premio Alemán del Libro. Mithu Sanyal escribe con un delicioso humor autocrítico y una perspicacia liberadora. La fuerza centrífuga de esta novela hace que ninguna persona sea la misma cuando finaliza su lectura.

Schauspiel on Mithu Sanyal

Sete escritores, sete países, sete olhares sobre um tema universal Descubra lumbung, palavra indonésia para um celeiro de arroz onde o excedente da colheita é armazenado para proveito comum, mas que, nesta coleção de contos, simboliza trabalho coletivo, esforço conjunto. Aqui, lumbung também é tequio, auzolan, mutirão, ubuntu. E é através dessa mistura de vozes e culturas que este livro celebra a diversidade e o senso de que vivemos em comunidade. Este livro é um projeto coletivo. lumbung: contos de mutirão é um esforço de editoras de diferentes países que nasce do documenta fifteen, evento artístico alemão que, na sua edição de 2022, é dirigido pelo coletivo artístico ruangrupa, da Indonésia. Nele, lumbung – palavra indonésia que se refere a um celeiro de arroz comunal – é não só o tema, mas o conceito estruturante que deve nortear sua organização. Daí surge a ideia de diferentes editoras criarem, conjuntamente, uma publicação que fale de coletividade nas suas próprias culturas. São contatadas e integram o projeto, então, com coordenação da consonni, uma editora espanhola, a alemã Hatje Cantz, a mexicana Almadía, a basca Txalaparta, a árabe Al-Mutawassit, a indonésia Marjin Kiri, a nigeriana Cassava Republic Press e a brasileira Dublinense. Para cada língua, cria-se uma abordagem literária singular sobre o tema proposto: Mithu Sanyal, em alemão, Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil, em espanhol, Uxue Alberdi, em euskera, Nesrine Khoury, em árabe, Azhari Aiyub, em indonésio, Panashe Chigumadzi, em inglês, e Cristina Judar, em português. O conjunto dos textos traduzidos – uma ação também ela coletiva, de troca e diálogo entre dezenas de tradutores, editores e revisores – é preparado simultaneamente por todas as editoras, que ficam também responsáveis por publicá-lo todas no mesmo momento em seus países. Tem-se, assim, esta obra única e múltipla, que, em diferentes línguas, com projetos gráficos distintos, em variados cantos do mundo e encontrando diferentes leitores em contextos específicos, torna-se um exemplo concreto e vivo daquilo que se pretende retratar nas páginas deste livro.

contos de mutirão

lumbung

Rätten till våra kroppar har de senaste åren varit en del av den offentliga debatten, inte minst efter den omfattande Metoo-rörelsen. Men våldtäkt är inte som andra brott – det tycks nå djupare ner i vårt psyke, både individuellt och kollektivt. Våldtäktsdebatten är en av de sista bastionerna för fördomar kopplade till könsroller. Därför är det befriande att läsa Mithu M. Sanyal som undersöker vår syn på våldtäkt och skärskådar de föreställningar som ofta hänger samman med detta brott. Varför förväntar vi oss att ett våldtäktsoffer ska vara för evigt traumatiserat när vi inte ser på samma sätt på offer för andra våldsbrott? Vad säger det om vår syn på kvinnlig sexualitet, att den är något som måste skyddas och försvaras, och som kan ”stjälas” av en man? Med utgångspunkt i ett omfattande källmaterial som sträcker sig från Aristoteles fram till vår tids populärkultur och mediehändelser visar Sanyal att många grundläggande diskussioner om våldtäkt i högsta grad nu ännu återstår att föras. ”Ett grundligt kulturarkeologiskt arbete […] Förtjänar en stor stjärna för modet att bryta med ett så djupt rotat tabu.” Politiken

Mithu Sanyal

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