Identitti

Nivedita (a.k.a. Identitti), a doctoral student who blogs about race with the help of Hindu goddess Kali, is in awe of Saraswati, her outrageous superstar post-colonial and race studies tutor. But Nivedita’s life and sense of self begin to unravel when it emerges that Saraswati is actually white. Hours before learning the truth Nivedita praises her tutor in a radio interview, jeopardising her reputation and igniting an angry backlash among her peers and online community. In her complex and genre-bending debut, Mithu Sanyal collages commentary from real-life intellectuals, blogs, articles, race theory and academic warfare, combining campus novel and coming-of-age drama. A darkly comedic tour de force astutely translated, Identitti showcases the outsized power of social media in the current debates around identity politics and the power of claiming your own voice.

Nivedita (a.k.a. Identitti), a doctoral student who blogs about race with the help of Hindu goddess Kali, is in awe of Saraswati, her outrageous superstar post-colonial and race studies tutor. But Nivedita’s life and sense of self begin to unravel when it emerges that Saraswati is actually white. Hours before learning the truth Nivedita praises her tutor in a radio interview, jeopardising her reputation and igniting an angry backlash among her peers and online community. In her complex and genre-bending debut, Mithu Sanyal collages commentary from real-life intellectuals, blogs, articles, race theory and academic warfare, combining campus novel and coming-of-age drama. A darkly comedic tour de force astutely translated, Identitti showcases the outsized power of social media in the current debates around identity politics and the power of claiming your own voice.

Nivedita (a.k.a. Identitti), blogger og studerende, får vendt tilværelsen på hovedet, da Saraswati, hendes forgudede superstar-professor i postkoloniale studier, viser sig i virkeligheden ikke at have den etniske og kulturelle baggrund, hun har påstået. Identitti er en roman, der ryster hele vores forståelse af politisk korrekthed. Fortællingen udstiller de sociale mediers magt i debatten om identitetspolitik og stiller spørgsmålstegn ved, hvor grænserne går, når vi definerer vores egen identitet – og skal vi nødvendigvis være født med en særlig kulturel arv for at gøre krav på den? Identitti er en kæmpe publikumssucces i Tyskland og var en af de mest omtalte bøger i hjemlandet i 2021. Bogen var desuden shortlistet til den prestigefyldte Deutscher Buchpreis. Mithu Sanyal er uddannet i Kulturelle Studier, er journalist, forfatter og samfundsdebattør.