Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Neusprachliche Südasienstudien
SAI|Südasien-Institut

Events

Lecture by Sourav Kargupta of the CSSS, Calcutta (Jadavpur University) on "Postcolonial Perspectives on Human Rights: The Case of Sati", 29 June 2011
The Department of Modern South Asian Languages and Literatures is happy to announce a public Lecture by Sourav Kargupta of the CSSS, Calcutta (Jadavpur University) on "Postcolonial Perspectives on Human Rights: The Case of Sati."

Abstract:

In the articulations of international law, it is generally agreed that the basic 'humanness' has a universal claim to protection and justice beyond cultural differences. This is crucial since the mean-ing of subjectivity has an important implication in deciding what might be called a just 'humani-tarian intervention', an issue of heated debate in recent times, be it the letter of the law of the land intervening in local 'custom', or one state, or group of states intervening into another's territory. I want to read some of the feminist interpretations of the debates around the phenomenon of 'sati' (widow-immolation), legally abolished by the colonial Govt. in 1828, under this broader problematic. My reading, I hope, would foreground the need for a thinking of 'ethics of represent¬ation' which might incorporate within its 'mechanics' both the work of interpretation and of intervention, and the trappings such a thought must be wary of.

The lecture will take place in Room 323 on Wednesday, 29 June 2011, 3 p.m.

All are cordially invited!
Posted on 28 Jun 2011
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