A Question of Silence?: The Sexual Economies of Modern India

John, Mary E. and Janaki Nair, (eds.). A Question of Silence?: The Sexual Economies of Modern India. London: Zed Books, 1998. 412 pp.

Ruby Rich in 1986 called for a "geo-politics" of sexuality in order to develop a more active feminist theory of sexuality. Following this, A Question of Silence?: The Sexual Economies of Modern India attempts to initiate a process that conceptualizes sexualities as they are articulated and contested at multiple sites in modern India. According to the editors, Mary E. John and Janaki Nair, their purpose in using "sexual economies" in the subtitle, instead of "sexualities," is to underscore their "concern with the materiality of the sites where discussions of 'sex' are laid out and contested..." (p. 7). They also note that for a complicated multiple level analysis, sexuality must be understood beyond biological genitality or sexual preference and instead address sexual relations and attendant questions of legitimacy "through the institutions and practices, as well as the discourses and forms of representations that have long been producing, framing, distributing and controlling the subject of `sex."' (p. 2). As this introduction presupposes, the twelve essays cover a wide range of issues and deal with complex and diverse caste, class scenarios. Though some essays lack coherence and depth, most authors offer innovative insights that further the book's major objective: extending, revising and testing more nuanced ways to conceptualize sexuality in modern India.

In their introduction John and Nair critique the tendency to overemphasize the silence regarding sexuality in India both within socio-political movements and scholarship because this blinds one to the diverse sites where sexuality has long been rooted. Hence, their attempt to recover and celebrate diverse Indian sexualities in relation to the uneven modernity in which these sexualities are manifested and contested. After briefly tracing a short conceptual history of the literature on sexuality, the editors embark on a rich analysis focusing on critical moments where questions regarding sexuality were raised in colonial and post colonial India. Critiquing feminist narratives in which the pre-modern institutions and cultural spaces such as the Devadasi system, wandering vaishnavas, Lavani composers and even sculpture were identified as signs of sexual and social freedom, John and Nair argue that these spaces themselves were effects of patriarchal structures and their resultant caste. class, and gender oppression. According to the editors, such representations of sexuality reveal more about the "fears and fantasies of their male creators or patrons than the symmetries of male and female desire"(28). They then briefly address how sexuality has been represented in various disciplines and discourses. At a general level, the anthology's contributors address these themes within specific contexts and in the process emphasize how important it is to analyze the connections between sexuality and the negotiation of socio-cultural hierarchies.

As Indian modernity is inextricably entangled with colonial and premodern discourses, it is perhaps not surprising that three essays in this volume engage in deconstructing some of these early discourses. Kumkum Roy's examination of the celebrated Kamasutra demonstrates how the text constructed class specific gender relations in which "cultured" and urban man was constituted as nayake (or actor) while the women were given only restricted space for action. Analyzing how the text pervades contemporary mass culture, Roy argues that the Kamasutra's definitions regarding male and female sexuality have become a hegemonic discourse of uniform heterosexual norms. Samitha Sen's essay shows how the British authorities' need to find a single, formal definition of marriage led to a brahmanization of marriage, which constrained labor and sexual options that were previously open to low class women. Though not demonstrated through case studies, Sen also notes how nineteenth century Bengali women negotiated complex customs so as to migrate seeking wage labor. Anandhi S. analyzes how different discourses on birth control in early twentieth century Tamil Nadu fore-grounded women as reproductive bodies and de-sexualized respectable mothers. She also briefly describes the politics of the SelfRespect movement led by Periyar. However, her claim that the birth control debates "make evident the limits of identity politics," (p. 160) is ungrounded and seems abruptly included. One may argue that rather than showing the limits of identity politics, these discourses provided the complex discursive terrain in which the Self-Respect movement's identity politics emerged and developed.

Essays by Uma Chakravarthi, Tejaswini Niranjana and U.Vindhya demonstrate the presence of the past in the contemporary political arena. Chakravarthi analyzes how specific constructions of male and female sexualities can be employed in politics. This nuanced analysis is among the book's most interesting essays. The essay provides a fascinating look into the hegemonic functions of a religious television serial that manipulated the historical cultural repertoire, specifically the concepts of celibacy and emasculinity to strengthen Hindutva power. Focussing on the similarities between Gandhi's rhetoric that led to the anti-indenture campaign and the critiques of chutneysoca music in contemporary Trinidad, Niranjana claims it is misleading to conclude that both these moments are different assertions of Indian patriarchy. Rather, the latter discourses on East Indian female sexuality, Niranjana opines, represent an essential part of an ongoing process configuring "Indian" cultural and ethnic identity in a bi-racial society. She ends her brief but intriguing analysis of chutney-soca by presenting a list of questions, which if researched may provide valuable information on sexuality, modernity and cultural and ethnic identity formation. U. Vindhya explores issues regarding female subjectivity and sexuality within the context of the radical left movement and in the writings of rebel writer Chalam. While she does a credible job analyzing discursive formation of subjectivity and identity politics within the left movement as well as exploring Chalam's writings, her claim that the latter's writings have a significant bearing on the contemporary feminist writings in Andhra Pradesh remains poorly grounded. The author presents only one moment of feminist recuperation in the context of Chalam's birth centenary, and even in this instance the complex negotiations surrounding the events remain obscure. This undermines her claims.