Gendering Material Culture: Representations and Practice

Book Details

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Author: Subhadra Mitra Channa

• Language: English

• Edition: 2013

• ISBN: 9788131605721

• Pages: 212

• Cover: Hardcover

• Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches

About the Book

This insightful volume by Subhadra Mitra Channa re-evaluates critical theoretical debates surrounding culture, materiality, and gender. It brings together a collection of essays that challenge conventional understandings of materialism, interrogating the concept of the ‘object’ not merely as a tangible entity but as a symbolic and praxis-rooted construct. The book explores how objects, the human body, and everyday actions—such as folk songs, dance, and rituals—are deeply gendered expressions within cultural contexts.

Moving beyond abstract theorization, the author delves into lived experiences and material symbols across diverse cultural and historical landscapes. From India’s devadasi tradition to the role of fashion, crafts, and folklore, to representations in school textbooks and museum artifacts, the essays illustrate how the material becomes a site for negotiating identity, asserting agency, and challenging social hierarchies.

Employing phenomenological, historical, and symbolic approaches, this work is a rich interdisciplinary exploration of how material culture is gendered and contested. It is an essential resource for students and scholars in gender studies, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and museum studies, offering both depth and breadth in its exploration of materiality and gendered experience.