Marginalisation and the construction of South-Asian identity in novels by Rohinton Mistry, Shyam Selvadurai and Moyez Vassanji

Abstract

The three texts analysed in this thesis are A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai and No New Land by Moyez Vassanji. These novels represent characters who experience different types of marginalisation that mediate their South-Asian identity, marginalisation based on caste, class, gender, sexual orientation, race, language and exile. These novels suggest that marginalisation can take place at home or abroad, for the stories are set in India, Sri Lanka and Canada. The thesis discusses the role of diasporic writing in constructing a sense of South-Asian identity. I explore the way these fictional works by South-Asian Canadian writers construct the identity of different minority groups such as women, untouchables, homosexuals, and immigrants through realism and cultural memory. This thesis is divided into three chapters in which marginalisation will be examined in its various forms."--Résumé abrégé par UMI