Gender performativity through the tropes of cultural diaspora examining texts of diaspora literature by select authors of the indian subcontinent

Abstract

This research work destabilises the construct of gender by placing it within the setup newlineof cultural diaspora originating in the Indian subcontinent. It analyses Judith Butler s gender performativity in this context. This link between diaspora and performativity is examined through a comprehensive study of the works of four authors- Sunetra Gupta s A Sin of Colour, Romesh Gunesekera s The Sandglass, Kamila Shamsie s Home Fire and Monica Ali s Brick Lane. The background of the authors, who are newlineproducts of diaspora themselves, is also poignant to the analysis. The elements of newlinereality interwoven into these fictional texts provide a deeper insight into the newlinefunctioning of gender in the socio-cultural contexts of these works. The historical newlinebackground of the countries of the Indian subcontinent has been studied, and its newlineimplications have been established. This research thesis examines how this newlinedisplacement and the nuances of the cultural diaspora of the Indian subcontinent shape newlinethe gender performativity of characters in these texts. The representation of elements newlinelike food and clothing, which are significant cultural markers, has been analysed. This newlinebrings out the themes of exile and displacement in these texts. The points of similarity in the performativity of the gender of characters in the contrasting cultural backgrounds of both texts reveal significant aspects of the intersection of gender and culture. Through the study of this intersection, the emergence and existence of the gender construct have been questioned and problematised. These texts have been analysed as palimpsests, and the multiple palimpsests that present themselves in them have been studied. The study of the layers of gender and culture in these texts and the way in which there is an interplay between them brings out the nuances of gender performativity. Palimpsests have been categorised into spatial-temporal and newlineintertextual for the purpose of this research. Language as a palimpsest has been newlineanalysed through the study.