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Qurbatein is a non-profit bi-annual publication by the Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality at Ashoka University that aims to bring together scholarly and non-scholarly work on gender, sex and sexuality in South Asia. This publication features a set of colourful, raunchy, serious, bawdy, rigorous, expansive works dedicated to the politics of gender and sexuality. The bi-annual will be released twice a year, and each issue will focus on a specific theme that asks questions about sexuality and its significance for contemporary as well as historical engagements with sex.
Qurbatein will aim at producing South Asian narratives of sexuality in relation to space, time, language, fantasy, cinema, law, food, literature, and politics more broadly. The purpose of this bi-annual is to think about queer engagements from a non-western point of view, and showcase ways in which South Asian landscapes affect desire. In what language does one “come out” in South Asia? Is the metaphor of “coming out” the only one available to us? How does queerness surface in a middle-class family? How does trans* politics alter (or succumb to) identitarian modes of queerness?
The Centre aims to expand conversations about gender and sexuality beyond the realm of academia, and the multiple genres will help foster discussions that are embedded in everyday life. This will also allow us to think about desire through the multiplicity of form, and come to terms with the various modes of storytelling that make up the complex space of sex and sexuality.
In this age of categorised and siloed politics, Qurbatein aims to curate a multiplicity of voices and genres. While the primary language of the publication will be English, we will also accept translations of existing literary work for subsequent publications. After all, the rich cornucopia of South Asian languages adds to the complexity of our desires. We especially urge writers from marginalized communities to send us their stories.
Arunima is the current Post-Doctoral Fellow at CSGS. Her PhD, “Kaleidoscopic (Re)Belongings” at the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of York, United Kingdom was funded by the Overseas Research Scholarship. Her work focuses on queer desire and its representations and expressions in autobiographical texts and media narratives. She is the current editor-in-chief of Qurbatein. Previously, Arunima served as an Associate Editor at Cultivate- a feminist journal at Centre for Women’s Studies at University of York.
Jagriti Jain works as the Deputy Manager at CSGS. They hold a MSc degree in Gender Studies (Applied) from University of Stirling, Scotland. They also majored in English Literature at Christ University, Bangalore. Their research interests include labour and human rights, postcolonial feminism, and queer phenomenology. They are enthusiastic about contributing to the growth and development of gender and sexuality studies as a field of research and praxis. Currently, they handle all social media and design the graphics of Qurbatein.
Samreen Mushtaq holds a PhD in Political Science from Jamia Millia Islamia, and was a Post Doc Research Fellow at the Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality. Prior to joining the Centre, she worked at The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, and Mobile Creches. Her research and writing focuses on gender and armed conflict, specifically on Kashmir, and sexual violence as a weapon of war. Her writings have appeared in Economic and Political Weekly, Contemporary South Asia, LSE Engenderings, The Caravan, Al Jazeera, Jacobin, and Open Democracy. Samreen served as the founding editor-in-chief of Qurbatein.
If you wish to write for us, watch our Instagram space for updates regarding subsequent issues and submission guidelines. For collaborations, write to us at csgs@ashoka.edu.in
