We might like to believe that the only law of desire is there is no law of desire. Nonetheless, we have laws that govern desire in the world, and that punish us if our desires run afoul of those laws. How are we to understand these laws of desire? What are they trying to govern, and how well do they succeed? Do the laws come from among the desires they govern, or do they tower over them? Does literature respond to the language of the law or does it provide that language? How do we read the law? Does reading literature help us understand or resist the law? This class will address some of these questions in relation to five categories of so-calked "sex laws" that govern rape, sexual harassment, marriage, homosexuality, transsexuality, and prostitution. We will look at legal theorists like Janet Halley and Rohit De, literary texts by Manto and on Umrao Jaan Ada, and judgments in the cases of Hadiya and NALSA, among others.
menon@ashoka.edu.in