Gender-based violence is a worldwide issue with an extended past that is predominantly an outcome of social norms and power disparities. In countries as different as Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, studies find that violence is frequently viewed as physical chastisement—the husband’s right to ‘correct’ an erring wife (Heise 1999). Unfortunately, it is one of many societal concerns that literature has long addressed. According to the analysis of a report by CARE and International Rescue, gender-based violence has arisen amid the pandemic and quarantines (Haneef and Kalyanpur 2020). Authors from different corners of the world have examined the complexities of violence and its effects on individuals and society in everything from classic works to modern novels. Some worth mentioning examples would be Lolita (1955) by Vladimir Nabokov, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) by Maya Angelou, Kindred (1979) by Octavia E. Butler, Milk and Honey (2014) by Rupi Kaur, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body (2017) by Roxane Gay, Speak: The Graphic Novel (2018) by Laurie Halse Anderson, My Dark Vanessa (2020) by Kate Elizabeth Russell, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (2022) by Kate Beaton, When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy. Reading literature offers readers an opportunity to empathise with characters’ experiences and gain a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the emotional and psychological aspects of gender-based violence often in the forms of ‘slow violence’ (Nixon 2011). Literature can aid readers in developing empathy for survivors through fictional narratives and in understanding the value of services and support for victims. Additionally, literature frequently offers a voice to marginalised people, highlighting their experiences and encouraging societal change. Gavey’s study Just Sex? The Cultural Scaffolding of Rape (2005) argues that cultural scaffolding continues to make rape not only possible but probable and that this support provides an alibi for minimalizing rape and creating a norm for masculine sex. (Zare 3). Hence, in a way, the intertwined relationship between violence and its impacts passes through lopsided twists and turns.
Apart from literature, popular culture has also played a pivotal role in necessitating the trajectories of violence and perpetrations. Through films, television shows, and online media, gender-based violence is frequently portrayed in popular culture. A recent graphic anthology Drawing the Line: Indian Women Fight Back! (2014) depicts the various ways of violence in fourteen provocative sketch-stories. Scenes of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse might be shown, feeding false narratives and diminishing viewers' awareness of how severe these behaviours are.
This edited collection will examine how gender-based violence has been portrayed in literature and popular culture in the South Asian Context, emphasising the adverse impacts on society as well as its possibility to be changed. We are looking for chapters that deepen our understanding of different dimensions of Gender-based Violence.
Possible topics may include, but not are not limited to:
• Violence in South Asian Autobiographies
• Trauma Narratives in South Asian Narratives
• Domestic Violence in South Asian Comics
• Trafficking, Trauma, and Torment in South Asian Web-series
• Physical and Psychological Abuse in South Asian Popular Culture
• Pain, Paranoia, and Partner Violence in South Asian Movies
• Film and Fiction: Perpetrators and Victims
• Mini-narratives on Facebook and Instagram
Last Date of Submission of Full Manuscript: 31st December 2023
Decision on Submission: 1st March 2024
Scan the QR Code or Click on the Submission Portal: https://forms.gle/mcGbygpvaXTqhknN7
Full papers should be no longer than 8000 words.
Authors are requested to follow MLA 8th Edition. All submissions will be peer-reviewed.
We will publish the Edited Volume with a reputed publication house.
