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South Asia Colloquium |
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This colloquium was the first step towards building a network of women writers in South Asia, on the issue of culture, censorship and voice and its specific impact on women. It built on earlier work by Women's WORLD (India) during 1998-2001, and again from 2002-2004, with more than 200 writers from India who are now part of our national network.
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The Colloquium was the culmination of Phase 2 of this project. Scheduled for February 2007, the project took place over two and a half days.
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Context, Objectives, Projected results:
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The end of the Cold War has changed the situation for women who are caught between the pressures of globalization, on the one hand, and the attacks of backlash nationalist, communalist, and fundamentalist movements, on the other. Feminist writers now face two kinds of silencing: the covert censorship of the global media, whose blanket of sound drowns out oppositional, regional, and individual voices, and the overt censorship of backlash social movements, to whom feminism represents all that is most threatening about modern life. Under these conditions, national and regional networks are necessary to strengthen women's voices and defend those under attack, but this is not enough: defence of individuals must go hand in hand with affirmative programmes that build women's resources, increase their access to publication, and amplify their voices through solidarity.
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In South Asia, readers rarely get to read or hear writers from each other's countries—or even our own—because they haven't been translated into a common language, because communication between our countries is practically non-existent, and because access to books, periodicals or newspapers is extremely difficult.
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And yet, when we do come together in dialogues and animated discussions, we know we can speak in many tongues, across languages and regions. Is English a power language, overshadowing all others in South Asia? Is there such a thing as "women's" writing? Do women write mostly about the domestic and private, and men about the worldly and public? Writing about sex seems to be okay—but not about sexual politics! Can women use abusive language when they write? Probably not. Yet breaking the language taboo is an important part of breaking the silence. “We endure,” says Bengali writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen. “But when we endure and still write, we are at our most subversive.”
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The objective of this colloquium was to first, to bring women writers from the 5 South Asian countries together in order to expose them to each other's work, and the contexts in which they write. It also tried to provide a forum from which they can raise their voices collectively, and engage in open discussions that may be difficult in their own countries. Through this we hope to:
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build a mutual aid network of women writers in order to break down isolation and defend those under attack
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develop autonomous feminist institutions including presses, distribution networks, writers' centers and institutes, as a basis for women's independent political thought
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fight the silencing of women through research, public education, and action
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strengthen our intervention in civil society by making writers active participants on issues of the day, in a way that they have not been so far, in different parts of the country
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The 5 thematic and programmatic sessions were:
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Session 1: Conflict/ War/ Migration/ Displacement
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Session 2: Market/ Globalisation/ Censorship/ Shrinking Spaces
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Session 3: Social exclusions—Caste, Religion, Ethnicity, Race, etc.
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Session 4: Fundamentalism
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Session 5: Networking, Future Links.
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“Secret Censors, Public Solutions” was the topic of a public lecture by well-known American feminist writer Gloria Steinem at the India International Centre on the opening day of a South Asian Women Writers’ Colloquium (21 February). Forty writers from across the region, as well as Russia, Peru and the US, participated in this unique literary event organised by Women’s WORLD India, exploring the diverse subtle and not so subtle forms of censorship faced by writers in general and women writers in particular across the world.
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Titled “The Power of the Word,” the colloquium is the first public event of Women’s WORLD India and the very first international event of Women’s WORLD (an international free-speech network of feminist writers that addresses issues of gender-based censorship).
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Participants in “The Power of the Word”
South Asia Colloquium, February 21–23, 2007
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Bangladesh |
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1 |
Niaz Zaman (English) |
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2 |
Taslima Nasreen (Bangla) |
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3 |
Neeman Sobhan (English) |
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4 |
Shabnam Nadiya (English and Bangla) |
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India |
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5 |
Anitha Thampi (Malayalam) |
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6 |
P. Chandralatha (Telugu) |
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7 |
Esther David (English) |
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8 |
Faustina Bama (Tamil) |
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9 |
Gagan Gill (Hindi) |
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10 |
Geetanjali Shree (Hindi) |
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11 |
Jeelani Bano (Urdu) |
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12 |
Mamang Dai (English) |
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13 |
Mandakranta Sen |
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14 |
A. Mangai (Tamil) |
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15 |
K.R. Meera (Malayalam) |
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16 |
Meghana Pethe (Marathi) |
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17 |
Mridula Garg (Hindi) |
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18 |
Nabaneeta Dev Sen (Bengali)
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19 |
Pratibha Nandakumar (Kannada) |
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20 |
Radhika Chandiramani (English) |
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21 |
Rukmini Bhaya Nair (English)
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22 |
Saroop Dhruv (Gujarati) |
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23 |
Temsula Ao (English)
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24 |
Vaidehi (Kannada) |
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25 |
Volga (Telugu) |
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Nepal |
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26 |
Manjushree Thapa (English) |
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Pakistan |
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27 |
Feryal Ali Gauhar (English and Urdu)
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28 |
Muneeza Shamsie (English) |
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29 |
Kamila Shamsie (English) |
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30 |
Zubeida Mustafa (English) |
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31 |
Fahmida Riaz (English and Urdu) |
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Peru |
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32 |
Mariella Sala (Women's WORLD) |
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Russia |
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33 |
Nadia Azhgikhina (Women's WORLD) |
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34 |
Olga Lipovskaya |
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Sri Lanka
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35 |
Anoma Rajakaruna |
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36 |
Neloufer de Mel (English) |
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37 |
Sunethra Rajakarunanayake (English and Sinhala) |
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US |
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38 |
Gloria Steinem (English) |
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39 |
Meredith Tax (Women's WORLD) |
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Zimbabwe |
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40 |
Tsitsi Dangarembga (English) |
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Reviews
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The power of the word |
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AUTHOR: Reclaiming identity |
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Women's words and worlds |
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"In the Silence, I Speak" |
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AUTHOR: Striking a delicate balance |
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Women's Voices |
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