Decolonial-posthuman pedagogy and conceptualising ‘womanness’ in postcolonial Pakistan

ABSTRACT

We propose a decolonial-posthuman pedagogy for contemplating the idea of ‘womanness’ in postcolonial Pakistan. Since posthumanism disbands anthropocentrism while decoloniality subverts Westcentrisms, we combine them to upend the notions of passivity and muteness attributed to Pakistani women via western feminist discourses. By foregrounding ‘womanness’ as an ongoing process of self-construction, we enable our undergraduate female Pakistani students of English Literature to rethink their selves as agentic knowing subjects. Through carefully designed activities, our students combined specific decolonial and posthuman theoretics while reading Frankenstein as a site wherein their own experiences as Pakistani women could be brought into play. Our approach blended the ideas of Walter Mignolo, Gayatri Spivak and Rosi Braidotti, etc., to posit how Pakistani womanness involves inhabiting other skins so as to raise questions regarding the modes of repression that have historically gone into defining their sense of self.

KEYWORDS:

• Posthuman pedagogy
• decoloniality
• science fiction
• womanness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Please see Mansoor, A. & Bano, M. 2019. ‘Decolonial Pedagogy and English Literary Studies: Problematics in a Pakistani Context’. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2019.1645589. Also Mansoor, A. & Malik, S. 2016. ‘Deconstructive Pedagogy and Ideological Demystification in Post-colonial Pakistan’. DOI: 10.1080/03626784.2016.1236655.

2. For further information, check https://propakistani.pk/2019/06/10/latest-economic-survey-shows-a-higher-literacy-rate-and-educational-expenditure/

3. See Jawaid Abdul Ghani’s report titled ‘The Emerging Middle Class in Pakistan’ (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262248885_The_Emerging_Middle_Class_in_Pakistan_How_it_Coumes_Earns_and_Saves)

4. See https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/11/12/shall-i-feed-my-daughter-or-educate-her/barriers-girls-education-pakistan

5. Published in 1869.

6. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzTgn4NU3pQ

7. Intersex and trans genders are called hijras in Pakistan