We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
CONSTRUCTING IDENTITY: GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN SHYAMSELVADURAI'SCINNAMON GARDENS.
- Authors
Rebello, Annabel
- Abstract
This paper aims to explore the constructions of identity in Shyam Selvadurai's novel Cinnamon Gardens. It will examine the textual representations of gender and sexuality and how these representations speak to the stereotypes of identity prevalent in late 1920s phase of reform and unrest in Ceylon now known as Sri Lanka. The paper will attempt to show the connection among gender and sexual identities through the lives of the parallel protagonists; Balendran and his niece Annalukshmi, in Cinnamon Gardens. Within the socio-political framework, the characters negotiate with issues of gender and sexuality that plague their existence. The "constraints" of being a woman, as imposed upon Annalukshmi in order to keep her and her family's reputation and respectability, and the "type of love" Balendran continually craves for, after having been forced to conceal his homosexuality, is reflective of the duo's struggle to be part of a socio-political system, which they don't really belong to. Bound by social conventions and casteist orthodoxy, the protagonists ruffle a few feathers, and often surprise themselves with their bold and rebellious actions. The relationship between the three themes only provides a deeper understanding as to why the protagonists choose to the path that they eventually take.
- Subjects
CINNAMON Gardens (Book); HUMAN sexuality; GENDER
- Publication
Research Horizons, 2017, Vol 7, p53
- ISSN
2229-385X
- Publication type
Article