Sundeep Bhutoria

Managing Trustee, Prabha Khaitan Foundation, Kolkata

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Politics of feminism in the mirror of Prabha Khaitan's life and work

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This lecture focuses on the feminist aspect of Prabha Khaitan’s persona, that was pivotal in providing her a distinct intellectual ground.

Prabha Khaitan sought to bridge through the translation of classics of French existentialist literature as well as through her original writings. She not only translated existentialist literature in Hindi but always tried to build bridges between both philosophical traditions. An Indian philosophical consciousness always shaped her thought-process and it was through this consciousness, her writings and translated works achieved originality.

Her latest formulations of feminism, which she derived through a critique of globalization, went beyond French feminism. This picture not only had shades of traditional socialist feminism processed by Marxism but also saw the institution of family as  a contested-zone of woman liberation, trying to pursue an Indian version of feminism.

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