Critical Aunty Studies: The What and Why

Researcher and artist Kareem Khubchandani is a Mellon Bridge assistant professor at Tufts University, Boston. His latest project, Critical Aunty Studies, is a website of presentations from academics and activists around the world. In these presentations, the figure of the Aunty is explored through diverse strands ranging from Caribbean literature to black queer scholarship, youngsters performing as African Aunties on TikTok, and the Indian fetish for the Aunty character in pornography. “The term ‘Aunty’ immediately connotes unattractive, older, abrasive, judgmental. But at the same time, Aunty can be beauty, safety, familiarity. I wanted to understand why we channel so much of our love and hate through the Aunty,” says Khubchandani, 38. Hear him discuss the what and why of Critical Aunty Studies.