Non-Conforming Women in Neoliberal Cities: Re-thinking Empowerment in Contemporary Diaspora Fiction and Film

Non-Conforming Women in Neoliberal Cities: Re-thinking Empowerment in Contemporary Diaspora Fiction and Film

Chattopadhyay, Shrimoyee

Györke, Ágnes

Irodalom- és Kultúratudományok Doktori Iskola

Debreceni Egyetem::Bölcsészettudományi Kar::Angol-Amerikai Intézet

2023-06-04T21:44:22Z

2023-06-04T21:44:22Z

2023

2023-07-03

Culinary art

Western neoliberal cities

Female empowerment

Intersectionality

Migration

Neoliberalism

South Asian diaspora

Space

Trauma

Female identity

Irodalom- és kultúratudományok

Bölcsészettudományok

Abstract The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the complex role space and movement play in the representation of South Asian diasporic communities in contemporary diaspora literature, the question of female empowerment in neoliberal Western cities, and the impact of trauma on female identities. I focus on the literary and the cinematic portrayal of South Asian people’s migration to the UK and the US after the Second World War. The literary narratives I explore include Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake (2003), Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (2003), Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Mrs. Sen’s,” from her collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies (1999), Chitra Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices (1997), and Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine (1989). The cinematic narratives are the following: Gurinder Chadha’s Bend it like Beckham (2002) and Bhaji on the Beach (1994). In the selected narratives I explore how identities of the female characters are transformed and the agency that these diasporic women acquire in the neoliberal cities compared to what they been entitled to in their home countries. Western neoliberal cities offer refuge to the diasporic characters as these women become part of the market economy despite the obvious exploitation they experience. Diasporic characters use empowering strategies in the host nation, which I read as acts of subversion, following in the wake of Homi Bhabha. Nevertheless, Bhabha does not take gender into account, which is the main focus of my dissertation. Therefore, apart from relying on his notion of “mimicry,” which refers to copying yet challenging Western practices, I introduce the term parody to analyse acts of subversion female characters perform in order to challenge the norms imposed on them by the patriarchal traditions of their home countries. Furthermore, I rely on Bhabha’s concept of vernacular cosmopolitanism to analyse the disposition of the diasporic characters, as contrary to the popular notion of cosmopolitanism as an elite phenomenon these characters, too, leave their home countries to escape the patriarchal oppressions. The narratives I explore suggest that religion is the most significant aspect of the characters’ identities, which I have studied with the help of the analytical framework of intersectionality. Despite the intersectional differences, instances of solidarity abound in the narratives I have analysed, yet solidarity depends on the recognition of intersectional differences, otherwise it may turn into another form of oppression. Besides religion, marital status also becomes a significant aspect of intersectional differences. My analysis reveals that food and culinary arts express the main aspects of “homing desire,” the term I have borrowed from Avtar Brah. Food is not only a symbol of cultural ties, but, it also acts as a medium for female expression in the narratives. My analysis also reveals that native culinary practices may even become a safe channel to release emotional anguish for migrants who experienced traumatic events. The narratives analysed show that protagonists escape from both collective and individual traumas. The collective trauma can also become intergenerational. Finally, the narratives I have studied reveal that during displacement, female characters adopt four different attitudes, which, nevertheless, may intersect. Some of them attempt to find a balance between the traditions of their home countries and the host nation; they may refuse to integrate into the host culture; some characters reject their own cultural traditions due to traumatic experiences; and some may adopt a more playful and subversive attitude towards both cultures, which is characterised by mimicry and parody.

angol

PhD, doktori értekezés

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https://hdl.handle.net/2437/354588