Suman GUPTA,
Social Constructionist Identity Politics and Literary Studies
New York, Palgrave Macmillan,
2007, 256 p.
Description
This fascinating interdisciplinary study presents a critique of social constructionist identity politics, which is distinguished from specific identity-based political positions, from within and with social constructionist commitments. The first half of the book focuses on the conceptual aspect of such politics with regard to the humanities generally. In particular, the logic of embodiment, the nuances of institutionalization, and recent developments in this area are discussed. Gupta also examines the institutionalization of social constructionist identity politics in literary studies, considering the role of self-announcements in critical writing, theory textbooks, and notions of canonicity.
Author Bio
SUMAN GUPTA is Senior Lecturer in Literature and Joint Director of the Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies, The Open University, UK. He is also Principal Co-ordinator of the Globalization, Identity Politics and Social Conflict (GIPSC) project and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Roehampton University, UK. He has published seven single-authored and five co-edited books.
Table of contents
Introduction: Prelude to Definitive Elaborations * PART 1: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST IDENTITY POLITICS * Identity-Based Political Positions * Embodying Identity-Based Political Positions * Analogues and Equivalences * Identity Politics at Work * PART 2: LITERARY STUDIES * Theory, Institutional Matters, Identity Politics * Self-Announcements and Institutional Realignments * Theory Textbooks and Canons * Conclusion: Questions and Prospects * Bibliography * Index *