Resistance and Identity in Twenty-First Century Literature and Culture : Voices of the Marginalized

Resistance and Identity in Twenty-First Century Literature and Culture: Voices of the Marginalized is a compendium of reflections on literary texts, politics of literature and culture. The book proffers ruminations on the pivotal role of constructive and positive resistance to reconstruct identities for meaningful human existence. The disciplinary power and dominance coerce the natural body to resist and yearn for freedom. One can establish a unique identity by refusing to conform to the pressures of society that deform the natural body. Dominant forces and oppressive structures evoke resistance that can range from "polite demurral" to "refusal." Resistance comes from the "will" that refuses to be controlled and governed. The "refusal" of the ordinary illuminates ordinary lives/bodies. Language and literary texts contain essential truths of such human existence. Words and imaginary worlds in literary works reveal the truth and suggest possibilities for reconfiguring the order. Resistance and Identity in Twenty-First Century Literature and Culture: Voices of the Marginalized is a compendium of reflections on literary texts, politics of literature and culture. The book proffers ruminations on the pivotal role of constructive and positive resistance to reconstruct identities for meaningful human existence. The disciplinary power and dominance coerce the natural body to resist and yearn for freedom. One can establish unique identity by refusing to conform to pressures of society that deform the natural body. Dominant forces and oppressive structures evoke resistance that can range from 'polite demurral' to 'refusal'. Resistance comes from the 'will' that refuses to be controlled and governed. The 'refusal' of the ordinary illuminates ordinary lives/ bodies. Language and literary texts contain essential truths of such human existence. Words and imaginary worlds in literary works reveal truth and suggest possibilities for reconfiguring the order. Contents Preface Acknowledgments Part I 1 Jacques Rancière and the “Politics of Literature” 2 Albert Camus’s Concept of Resistance 3 Michel de Certeau and Spatial Practices Part II 4 Arundhati Roy’s 5 The Branded 6 Resistance in P. Sachidanandan’s 7 Women in Amitav Ghosh’s 8 Indra Sinha’s Part III 9 Mahasweta Devi’s 10 The Marginalized in 11 Veiled Identities in Azar Nafisi’s 12 Transnational Identities in 13 “Strangenesses and Selves” in Bharati Mukherjee’s 14 Sophocles’ Part IV 15 The Bog Body in Seamus Heaney’s “Punishment” 16 Environmental Imagination and Culture Bibliography Index