Good day, Dr. Shraddha Jha. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia.

OK, I did I so I have studied English literature and I did my Bachelor of Arts degree from the She Satya Science Institute of Higher Learning, Anantapur campus in Andhra Pradesh. Then I went on to do my Masters of Arts in English from the Banaras in the university and uh, finally I did my PhD, uh, in English from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bhuvneshwar.

This I completed my doctorate in October of 2025. I worked on gender, studying gender in speculative fiction or specifically feminist dystopias.

Thank you for sharing that, Dr. Jha. Can you elaborate on the specific aspects of gender in speculative fiction you explored? For example, were you analyzing thematic patterns, narrative structures, representations, or perhaps something else?

OK, I was analyzing how femininity and masculinity are constructed in autocratic societies. So I was trying to look at exaggerated representations of gender which are depicted in feminist dystopias, and for the simple reason that I wanted to study how emphasized femininity and hegemonic masculinity, which are both concepts of.

Raven Connell Are, you know, studied or are represented?

Through feminist dystopias. So yes, I was studying narrative structures as well in the final chapter where I talk about how feminist dystopias also resist the binary gender. So they also write for example fiction like Naomi Alderman's The Power and Christina and. So and such Who Runs the World? By Virginia Burgin These kinds of novels resist the idea of binary gender by showing.

How What happens if the patriarchal structure is overturned and if women start to rule? So ultimately I argue that both the I mean the entire idea of binary gender itself is not something that is applicable anymore. And so we should aim for a genderless world. So that is what my thesis does.

Thank you for that detailed overview, Dr. Jha. Your research on the construction and resistance of binary gender within feminist dystopias is compelling, especially exploring texts like *The Power* and *Who Runs the World?*. It seems to contribute significantly to discussions on gender theory and speculative fiction. Could you clarify—how did you position your work in relation to existing literature on feminist dystopias? For instance, was your thesis more aligned with expanding theoretical frameworks or critiquing specific representations within this genre?

Yes, it was aligned with using definitely used specific theoretical frameworks, especially sociological frameworks and.

It also took specific, I mean select contemporary feminist dystopias in order to really establish what I was trying to tell through my thesis. So definitely the texts were selected in alignment with my objectives. So I only chose texts which actually depict the construction of gender and not just the, you know, reinforcement of the binary. So yes, but it does. Aim to add or contribute to the existing.

Feminist literature as well as feminist theory by exploring through literature and something socially relevant how you know gender is constructed and how it is a problematic stereotype that if someone is feminine they should act a certain way or if someone is masculine then they should act a certain way. How these things are problematic. So hence of course it has social relevance. But I did take select contemporary dystopias to align them with my objectives.

That’s a well-focused approach, Dr. Jha—selecting texts that directly align with your objectives ensures both depth and relevance. It’s particularly striking how your work bridges sociological theory with literary critique, offering not just abstract insights but also tangible social relevance. Since you explored the construction of gender stereotypes and their implications, how did you balance critiquing the binary within individual narratives while addressing broader societal frameworks? For instance, did you find thematic dissonance between a text’s narrative goals and its reflection of real-world gender dynamics?

Yes, very much. For instance, I took Kale Dusani's 1000 Splendid Sons and I and did an analysis of the patriarch, very famously evil patriarch named Rasheed in that text. And I looked at how Taliban, the taking over of Taliban of Afghanistan has influenced people to act a certain way. So it is not just women who are suppressed under that regime, but also men and by.

Saying that, I don't take away the fact that women are oppressed, but I try and reinforce the idea that men are not just agents of patriarchy but also victims themselves. And this is particularly socially relevant because in 2021, the Taliban took over Afghanistan once again. And no matter how much we talk about the gender constructions there, in that society, it could. Possibly never be too much.

And also, for instance, I took Soumya Rajendran the lesson, which is again, a text based in a dystopian futuristic India where the crime, the crime of a woman is only that she does not comply with the norms of emphasized femininity and the punishment for that is rape. So this issue, this novel foregrounds the issue of victim blaming in India. And so it finds direct, you know, relevant social relevance to the.

Current situations where we see that judges and ministers pronounce that women deserve to be raped if they are going out at night or if they are, you know, doing things that are not expected by the norm of society. So yes, definitely all the texts that I've taken, each of them has, you know, definite social relevance.

Thank you, Dr. Jha, for unpacking these aspects of your work. Your analysis of *A Thousand Splendid Suns* and *The Lesson* demonstrates a nuanced grasp of gender dynamics under oppressive regimes and in societal contexts. By revealing men as potential victims of patriarchy and exposing the perverse logic of victim blaming, your research indeed underscores the complex and multifaceted nature of gender construction. Given your focus on sociological frameworks, how did you navigate the balance between critiquing literature as a reflection of social conditions and evaluating it as an independent narrative form with its own artistic goals? Specifically, did you find points where the literature prioritizes narrative over social critique, or are the two inseparably entwined in the texts you chose?

So in the first two chapters, when I talk about the construction of gender itself, then I definitely would say the latter, that literally, literally narratives, they definitely, you know, prioritize being socially relevant. But in the final chapter, I make an obvious shift from using sociological theories to using narrative theories, for instance, when I analyze novels like Naomi Alderman's The Power. Virginia Burgess, who runs the world. I talk about how these narratives, it's they themselves resist the idea of binary gender. So I don't have to talk about the sociological theory in relation to it anymore. But I have to look at how, for example, utopianism itself is a skewed idea, or how feminist dystopias are shifting or overturning the idea of feminist utopias that used to prevail. So there is an.

Obvious shift from sociological theory to narrative theory in the final chapter. But yes, I always try to balance strike a balance between sociological theory and literary narrative because I also believe that literature should be relevant and if it does not bring any sociological insight then.

It does not do its job of mirroring society.

So that is a balance I have tried to strike. But at the same time feminist dystopias itself are political, politically charged dystopias. Hence they talk about issues of feminism and gender. And I don't have to really, you know, search too deep for its very stark. The issues are very stark and it's it's very evident that. This particular these particular novels are talking about social issues and definitely prioritize social issues.

The most interesting thing of a feminist dystopia is that it takes the woman out of her domestic sphere and puts her as a political places her as a political citizen. And not just a woman, but every human here is placed as a political citizen. So you get to see what their rights are as individuals and not just who they are as their particular gender in their particular gender roles.

Your observations are profoundly insightful, Dr. Jha. The progression in your thesis—from sociological critiques to narrative theories—shows a deliberate and structured approach. Particularly, your emphasis on feminist dystopias redefining women (and by extension, all individuals) as political entities rather than mere adherents to gender roles adds a significant dimension to the field. Your point about feminist dystopias spotlighting individuals' rights beyond gendered roles is compelling. When you examined the shift from private/domestic roles to public/political identities, did you also explore how the texts address intersections of gender with other identities, such as class, race, or ethnicity, within these dystopian frameworks?

Well, I'd like to point out that that is 1 limitation of my thesis, that I have not taken up the study of intersectional oppression because I wanted to focus so much on the construction of gender and then its eventual resistance as well. So that is 1 limitation of the thesis. But at the same time, you cannot ignore issues of class and caste when talking about. Texts from the Indian context or.

The Afghanistan context as well, but at the same time, and I know that there has been powerful, you know, powerful fiction has been produced in speculative fiction and feminist dystopias from countries like Africa and Latin America, but due to the limited scope of my thesis, I was not able to incorporate those yet. I would like to explore these as future projects, so I have mentioned in the scope for.

Future research that I would definitely take up the task of studying such novels.

Acknowledging the limitations of your thesis while outlining areas for future research shows academic rigor and the potential for growth in your work. Your focus on gender construction and resistance is certainly impactful within the scope you've defined, and expanding into intersectionality in contexts such as Africa and Latin America through speculative fiction could be an enriching direction for further study. Given your intent to explore these areas in the future, how do you plan to approach texts that could bring both intersectional oppression and non-binary gender representations into sharper focus? Would you consider modifying your methodologies to integrate sociological theories with intersectional lenses, or would you prioritize narrative analysis to allow cross-cultural variations to emerge naturally?

Yes, definitely both. I would like to say expand my theoretical frameworks onto something that is more intersectional to to finally actually talk about these issues. But at the same time I would also like to do like in my thesis I have taken for each objective 2 novels and both the novels fulfill the same objective, but I have not drawn up a comparison between the two.

But in future, I would like to take up more comparative studies because as much as I believe that world literature gives us a very broad view of what I'm talking about and also it, you know, talks about the ubiquity of certain power structures, I do believe that. So I also feel that there is scope for comparative study like. A novel from Latin America could be compared to a novel from, say, the Europe.

And I would like to take that approach as well. So yes, there is narrative analysis in that and also looking at how the narratives, where they converge and where they intersect with each other.

That sounds like an excellent and ambitious direction for future research, Dr. Jha. Integrating intersectional lenses while employing comparative studies can certainly deepen the conversation about power structures across cultural and geographic contexts. Comparing novels from distinct global regions could reveal how narratives both challenge and adapt to the specific sociopolitical climates they originate from. Given this interest in comparative approaches, would you consider focusing on how localized cultural frameworks might influence the construction and dismantling of gender binaries? For example, examining how feminist dystopian narratives deal with traditional versus modern tensions within different societies?

Sure, I think I would do that. But if you look at most feminist dystopian novels, they are set in the future and also sometimes they transcend the idea of time and space as well because they are imagined and speculative. So I don't think that I would take that exact approach of considering how traditional and modern. Clashes of ideas.

But then, uh, definitely if there is room for something like that, I would like to take it up.

MMM.

Thank you, Dr. Jha. Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to discuss or elaborate on further.

No, that's all from my end.

Thank you for sharing your valuable insights, Dr. Jha. Would you like me to proceed with concluding the interview?

Yes, please. Thank you.