3 weeks ago
Wendy Doniger's Memoir Reveals Life of Stories and Feminism
Wendy Doniger is a famous professor who studies very old Indian books like the Kamasutra.
She just wrote a new book about her own life called 'For the Love of Stories.'
In it, she tells funny stories about people she knew, even a famous movie director from her high school.
She also writes honestly about the people she loved and worked with.
Some of her opinions about university rules made the reviewer disagree with her.
She says some of the new rules about who can study things are not fair.
The reviewer thinks she is wrong about some of those things, but still likes her honesty.
The book has 384 pages and is sold for Rs 899.
It teaches that everyone has a story, and telling yours honestly can be powerful.
Wendy Doniger's new memoir, 'For the Love of Stories: Confessions of an Accidental Feminist,' is published by Speaking Tiger Books (384 pages, Rs 899) and reviewed by Chintan Girish Modi.
The 85-year-old American Sanskrit scholar writes with unfiltered humour about high-school classmate Francis Ford Coppola, 'the boy in the class of 1956 whom I did not marry.'
She recounts relationships with colleagues and former students, including psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar, with whom she co-translated the Kamasutra.
The book criticises university double standards and the 'Woke world,' which the reviewer calls ironic and close to portraying whiteness as victimhood.
Doniger thanks Dinanath Batra for boosting sales of 'The Hindus: An Alternative History,' her 2009 book that led to a lawsuit against her and Penguin India.
- Who
- Wendy Doniger, the American Sanskrit scholar and University of Chicago professor emerita, whose memoir is reviewed by Chintan Girish Modi.
- What
- Publication of her memoir 'For the Love of Stories: Confessions of an Accidental Feminist,' recounting her intellectual, romantic and academic life with unfiltered humour.
- Where
- United States academia centred on the University of Chicago; the book is published by Speaking Tiger Books and the review discusses a lawsuit involving Penguin India.
- When
- Not specified in the article; Doniger reflects at age 85 on events from her 1956 high-school years through the 2009 controversy over 'The Hindus.'
- Why
- Doniger wrote the memoir to share her life story with unfiltered honesty as an 'accidental feminist,' while the reviewer praises its candour despite disagreeing with some of her views.
Reviewer's Critique
Doniger's Perspective
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
Reviewer's Critique
The reviewer calls Doniger's 'tirade' against DEI ironic since she repeatedly notes she was unqualified for most jobs she got, and says her claim that departments would 'hire an Indian woman instead of me' portrays whiteness as victimhood and reflects the anti-immigrant political climate in the US.
Doniger's Perspective
Doniger argues that in the 'Woke world' 'you couldn't study x if you were not x,' and cites a brilliant Sanskrit student turned down for a job because Sanskrit was called 'a language of oppression.'
Sexual relationships in academia
Reviewer's Critique
The reviewer says the book exposes double standards in university departments that frown on women with younger male companions but not men with younger female companions, and highlights relational dynamics called out during the MeToo movement, noting several of Doniger's male colleagues 'had slept with their students.'
Doniger's Perspective
Doniger writes openly that 'the men were not just warm bodies in bed; they were also colleagues,' felt her 'femme fatale' reputation struck 'an inadvertent effect' for sexual equality, and clarifies she had no 'power to give him an academic grade' when she became involved with former student Brian Smith.
Unfiltered honesty vs political correctness
Reviewer's Critique
Critics may be 'triggered' by Doniger's lack of political correctness and unvarnished writing about love and race, which the reviewer says comes 'perilously close to portraying whiteness as victimhood.'
Doniger's Perspective
Doniger champions her lack of self-censorship with 'unfiltered glee,' and the reviewer ultimately concludes her honesty—fighting 'not for women's rights but for my own rights'—makes the book worth reading even for those who disagree.
Key facts
- Book title
- For the Love of Stories: Confessions of an Accidental Feminist
- Author
- Wendy Doniger
- Publisher
- Speaking Tiger Books
- Pages
- 384
- Price
- Rs 899
- Reviewer
- Chintan Girish Modi
- Author's age
- 85
- Prior controversial work
- The Hindus: An Alternative History (2009), which led to a lawsuit against Doniger and Penguin India
Quotes
Wendy Doniger
American Sanskrit scholar and author of 'For the Love of Stories: Confessions of an Accidental Feminist'
““Francis and I often went out together, and he has several times gone on record to say that I was the first girl he ever kissed.””
financialexpress.com
Sources
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