The Private Life of Empire

This seminar will make the case for what Deepika Bahri identifies as the "prominent and constitutive" importance of gender to imperialism. We will examine how gender and sexuality were critical to signifying racial difference, naturalizing exploitation, symbolizing the colonial mission, and managing colonial economies. Our investigation will take us into the imperial household's bedrooms, nurseries, and kitchens. We will read literary works as well as feminist scholarship, exploring how narrative participates in what Edward Said identifies as the "formation of imperial attitudes, references, and experiences," but also in their contestation.