*CFP* "TRANSGENDER INDIA: UNDERSTANDING HIJRAS AND SADHINS THROUGH THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, ARTS AND HUMANITIES", EDITED BOOK

Chapters are invited for Transgender India, which examines hijras and sadhins from antiquity to the present, drawing on scholarship in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Contributions may explore a range of Indian transgender identities and experiences—including but not limited to individuals identifying as third gender, MTF, FTM, and nonbinary.

Chapters understanding hijras and sadhins from a wide range of disciplines are encouraged, including but not limited to anthropology, art history, Asian studies, biology, cultural studies, economics, education, ethics, gender studies, geography, history, Indology, journalism, law, literary studies, media studies, medicine, musicology, philosophy, political science, popular culture, psychology, queer studies, religious studies, sociology, transgender studies, and visual arts. Proposals to write the introduction to the book are especially welcome.

A sampling of confirmed chapters includes:

• “Reconceptualizing Identities through Transmasculinity in India: A Gender Revisionist Approach,” Rubina Iqbal, PhD, Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
• “Contradiction/Concurrence of Castration and the Fertile Phallus: A Transgender Reading of Ancient Indian Literature,” Ruman Sutradhar, PhD, Department of Political Science, Samuktala Sidhu Kanhu College, Alipurduar, West Bengal, India
• “Sikhandi to Manobi: An Exploration of (Trans)Human Emotions through a Critical Study of Selected Transgender Biographies,” Bosudha Bandyopadhyay, PhD, Department of International Languages, Chitkara University, Punjab, India
• “Victor Turner’s Theory of Liminality: A Tool to Study the Lives of Deirdre N. McCloskey, Paula Grieg, and Living Smile Vidya,” Ramya Sampath, PhD, Department of English and Foreign Languages, SRM University, Tamil Nadu, India
• “Transgender Themes in Journey to the West: Indian Buddhist Influences on Chinese Literature,” Peter I-min Huang, PhD, Department of English, Tamkang University, Taiwan

Interested authors should send a 300-word abstract, 200-word bionote, and sample of a previously published chapter or article to Dr. Douglas Vakoch at dvakoch@ciis.edu by October 1, 2020. 

Authors will be notified whether their proposals are accepted by October 30, 2020. First drafts of full chapters are due by February 1, 2021, and final versions are due April 1, 2021. Preference will be given to authors who have completed their doctorates. Only previously unpublished works will be considered. This book will foster a dialogue across academic disciplines, as authors cross-reference each other’s chapters, comparing and contrasting their understandings of transgender experience and identity in India. We seek a broadly international group of scholarly contributors.

Dr. Douglas Vakoch, the editor of Transgender India: Understanding Hijras and Sadhins through the Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities, has published sixteen earlier books through scholarly presses such as Cambridge University Press. His latest book is Transecology: Transgender Perspectives on Environment and Nature.