Sara Ahmed in Conversation with Sunny Singh

 

Image Credit: N.Moore L: Sara Ahmed, R: Sunny Singh

On 9 March 2023, I went to see Sara Ahmed, one of the world's leading feminist thinkers and writers, in conversation with academic and writer Sunny Singh, who teaches English Literature at London Metropolitan University, with a special interest in feminist and postcolonial theory. The conversation was about The Feminist Killjoy Handbook, followed by an audience Q&A and a book signing.

The event was held at Foyles in Charing Cross Road, London, one of the UK's most famous booksellers, comprising five floors of books, with a dedicated events space on the sixth-floor hosting author events, in conversations and more.

Sara Ahmed spoke about the stories, theory and history that inspired The Feminist Killjoy Handbook. This book calls on those dismissed or ridiculed for calling out sexism and division, to find solidarity and empowerment.

I first came across 'A Killjoy Survival Kit' and 'A Killjoy Manifesto' in Living a Feminist Life by Sara Ahmed where she unpacks the term 'killjoy' in ways that open up a whole different way of seeing how those experiences of being or becoming a killjoy:

"can feel, sometimes, like making your life harder than it needs to be. I have heard this sentiment expressed as kindness: as if to say, just stop noticing exclusions and your burden will be eased. It is implied that by not struggling against something you will be rewarded by an increasing proximity to that thing. You might be included if only you just stop talking about exclusions. Sometimes the judgement is expressed less kindly: disapproval can be expressed in sideways glances, the sighs, the eyes rolling; stop struggling, adjust, except. And you can also feel this yourself: that by noticing certain things you are making it harder for yourself.

But the experiences we have are not just of being worn down; these experiences also give us resources. What we learn from these experiences might be how we survive these experiences" (Ahmed, 2017 p. 235).

Having read Living a Feminist Life I was enthusiastic about the Foyles event since that book had me making copious notes on yellow post-it notes so as to capture the many insightful theories and practicalities of living a feminist life. However, I must admit the actual conversation between Sara Ahmed and Sunny Singh was a bit flat in places as it lacked context and depth, which I think was due to the questions which arose quite randomly almost out of thin air, so a bit of a missed opportunity. Some of the questions could have been better framed. 

Sara Ahmed is the author of many works including The Cultural Politics of Emotion and Complaint!. Her work occupies the intersections of feminist, queer and race studies. She was Professor of Race and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London, until 2016. She resigned from her post in protest at the failure to deal with the problem of sexual harassment.