Dr. Sukanya Gupta is Associate Professor of English and the Director of Global Studies at University of Southern Indiana. She also serves as the Vice President of South Asian Literary Association. She earned her Ph.D. in English from Louisiana State University. She has an M.A. in English from Calcutta University (India) and a post graduate diploma in Mass Communications from Jadavpur University (India). Her research and teaching interests include Diaspora Studies, World Literature, Postcolonial Literature, and South Asian Studies. She enjoys a cross-disciplinary approach and explores literary texts through Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, and Film Studies. She has published in anthologies like Negotiating: Gender and Sexual Identity in Contemporary Turkey and in journals such as South Asian Popular Culture, South Asian Diaspora, South Asian Review, Intercultural Education, and Diaspora Studies. She has articles in books like Teaching Literature in Translation and Routledge Handbook of Asian Transnationalism.
Routledge Handbook of Asian Transnationalism. , 2022
Analyzing Benyamin’s Goat Days (2008) and Pamela Fernandes’ Painting Kuwait Violet (2018), I argu... more Analyzing Benyamin’s Goat Days (2008) and Pamela Fernandes’ Painting Kuwait Violet (2018), I argue that through the situations protagonists face, the anecdotes about peripheral characters who are migrant workers from other Asian countries, the inclusion of Gulf history as it relates to importing Asian labor, and the insistence on cross-cultural communication and community as survival tools for migrant workers, the novels bear witness to the transnational plight of unskilled migrant workers in the Gulf. Although the protagonists in these novels are Indians, Benyamin and Fernandes show that the poor condition of unskilled migrant workers in the GCC countries is a Pan-Asian problem and should be dealt with as such.
This article is a reflection of the author’s experiences teaching a course titled ‘Women In Islam... more This article is a reflection of the author’s experiences teaching a course titled ‘Women In Islam’ [WIS] in an English Department at a medium, public, Masters granting, Liberal Arts university in the Midwestern United States. This paper argues for the importance of teaching WIS through a multi-genre, interdisciplinary, and global approach. The article refers to the following five teaching strategies: Thinking through History, The Lived Realities Lens, The Multi-Genre Approach, Fiction through a Global Lens, and Using VALUE rubrics as an Evaluation Tool.
Negotiating: Gender and Sexual Identity in Contemporary Turkey., 2016
As Turkey struggles to define itself both at the international level and within the confines of i... more As Turkey struggles to define itself both at the international level and within the confines of its own borders, its women strive to negotiate an identity for the self in a continually changing homeland. Contemporary short stories such as Esmahan Aykol’s Bayan Naciye House, Muge Iplikci’s A Question and Mine Sogut’s Why I Killed Myself in Istanbul narrate the lives of women repetitively coerced to construct their selves within the confines of Islam, secularism and patriarchal tradition. Dismayed with Istanbul, they are often unable to protect their bodies, their honor and their rights to live their lives as they please. Uncertain with the roles that they may be allowed to play in the construction of the nation state, the female characters in these stories realize that owing to the complex national identity of their westernized/modernized Islamic Turkey it is not possible to ascribe to any single definition of the self. Yet attempts to embrace multiple identities prove challenging as the dominant social and political structures require these women to adopt modernity in theory only. Seen as transgressors, these women are often lonely. This paper examines the challenges, anxiety, dilemma, fear, sexual frustration, despair and lack of recognition suffered by Turkish women through the various rhetorical devices (such as anaphoras, rhetorical questions, dialogues between Istanbul—usually portrayed as a male lover—and the female narrator, uncertain endings, myth and fantasy) used by the different writers of these stories.
This paper focuses on four popular UK based, desi food blogs by Anjali Pathak, Hari Ghotra, Malli... more This paper focuses on four popular UK based, desi food blogs by Anjali Pathak, Hari Ghotra, Mallika Basu, and Chintal Kakaya, who are ambassadors of the global justice charity Find Your Feet's (FYF) ‘Curry for Change’ (CFC) campaign. Reconfiguring and challenging geographical parameters and national boundaries, the bloggers team up with FYF to help fight hunger in African and Asian rural communities. Using the Internet as a platform to create awareness about the charity, the blogs share recipes and meal plans for dinner parties hosted in honour of the charity and invite the public to fundraising events. Concerned with human rights, these bloggers affect social change by empowering individuals and communities to participate in civic engagement, and occasionally to even challenge unfair government policies/practices. The blogs’ efficacy can also be measured through the funds raised, the public attention they receive from channels such as Indian food network and London Live, local/regional newspapers such as the London Evening Standard, and magazines like India's Complete Wellbeing Magazine. Food blogs that actively contribute to global justice movements cannot be seen as domestic reflections or exercises in nostalgia anymore. Referring to Habermas's notion of the public sphere and Nancy Fraser's concept of the transnational public sphere, I examine these food blogs as transnational public spheres. Based on textual analysis of blog entries related specifically to the CFC campaign and an examination of FYF's annual reviews, this paper examines how these food blogs have expanded in form and function by engaging in cyberactivism.
Using an ecocritical approach and discussing the theory of the graphic novel as it relates to Ind... more Using an ecocritical approach and discussing the theory of the graphic novel as it relates to Indian writing in English, this paper argues that In All Quiet in Vikaspuri Sarnath Banerjee blends the cli-fi genre with the medium of the graphic novel to illustrate “slow violence” that is perpetrated on nature in the name of vikas or progress. Through his text/image activism, Banerjee depicts India’s water wars at the community level, a corrupt political system, the shortsighted policies in politics and business, the detrimental effects of privatizing basic resources, the media’s lack of coverage of environmental issues, the paradoxical nature of the relationship that Hindus have with nature, and the inaction or silence that the average Indian maintains towards environmental concerns. These factors are forms of “slow violence.” Since there is no actual “violence” involved in any of these factors, the threat is difficult to translate. However, Banerjee responds to the challenge by intervening representationally to indicate “amorphous calamities” by (a) “devising iconic symbols” to illustrate the calamity and (b) by yoking popular objects to “amorphous calamities.” Personalizing the Anthropocene through an Indian cultural prism, Banerjee refers to popular sports, television dramas, Hindu mythology, and real environmental disasters. Ultimately, through his work, he holds up a mirror to his Indian readers to warn them of the dangers of keeping quiet in the land of progress.
In Sasthi Brata’s The Sensuous Guru, protagonist Ram Chakravarti migrates from India to America w... more In Sasthi Brata’s The Sensuous Guru, protagonist Ram Chakravarti migrates from India to America with the hopes of becoming a writer. However, in America he is seen as a representative of Hindu India. Capitalizing on the frenzy surrounding American Transcendentalist version of Hinduism and Tantra, Ram becomes guru “Chukker.” He “cures” disciples with sex therapy, wins the Nobel peace prize, and eventually becomes the president of America. Examining the irony and satire present in the novel, I argue that in The Sensuous Guru Brata mocks the 1960s American counter culture movement, the subsequent popularity of Hinduism brought about by Hindu gurus in the US in the 1900s, the Hindu gurus who “attempt to devise analogues that might make…[Hinduism] comprehensible to the Western mind” (Mehta 6), and the westerners who follow these gurus. Ultimately, the novel illustrates the plight of the post 1965 Indian immigrant to America.
Bollywood’s depiction of its female characters tends to be regressive. Recently, however, movies ... more Bollywood’s depiction of its female characters tends to be regressive. Recently, however, movies like Kahaani (2012), Queen (2014) and Gulaab Gang (2014) depict a limited presence of a male character or no male protagonist; thus focusing all attention on the female character and its development. Examining the construction/depiction of the Indian woman free from a validating male presence, this paper discusses the new trend in Bollywood post-2010 and views it as an indirect response to both the increasing role women are playing in the Indian economy and the rising violence directed towards Indian women in the 21st century. Introducing six tropes common to Kahaani, Queen and Gulaab Gang to analyze the new trend, the paper argues that these movies offer a nuanced understanding of the Indian woman by implicating the audience and its perception of female characters, and by simultaneously highlighting the inherent multiplicities within the seemingly homogenous category of Indian femininity. Depicted as individuals first and not symbols of family and nation, these new queens of popular Bollywood films set a precedent, provide some much needed inspiration and become empowered role models that resonate with the population.
Shani Mootoo’s Valmiki’s Daughter presents transsexuals repeatedly and traumatically conforming t... more Shani Mootoo’s Valmiki’s Daughter presents transsexuals repeatedly and traumatically conforming to the boundaries set by their familial and cultural background and highlights how class values determine notions of ethnic and sexual purity. The novel ends with Viveka’s impending immigration to Canada suggesting that in order to completely embrace her national, ethnical and sexual identities it is imperative to leave. This article examines the construction of gender by the upper-middle-class Indo-Trinidadian community presented in Shani Mootoo’s Valmiki’s Daughter. Queer bodies, like Valmiki and Viveka, perform heterosexuality while they are coerced to exist within the Indo-Trinidadian heteronormative social structure. Although queer desire in this community cannot be made public, this article argues that it allows queer characters to evade the racial othering of non-Indian Caribbeans and the heteronormative structure of the Indo-Trinidadian society, which forces them to confront their colonial and indentured histories by constantly reminding them of their (dis)located diasporic self. Through their performances, queer bodies are able to subvert heteronormative social frameworks and to accommodate their queerness.
The wealthy Indo-Trinidadians rigorously maintain and enforce an “authentic” Indianness—which translates into determining sexuality and gender roles according to parameters set by Indian moral codes, and ensuring conjugal and procreative heterosexuality. Queer bodies, coerced to exist within the community’s heteronormative social structure, perform heterosexuality to avoid discovery and to continue to remain within familiar social circles. This article argues that although queer desire in Mootoo’s Indo-Trinidadian community cannot be made public, it is only through sexual “aberrance” that queer individuals are able to assimilate with the non-Indian Trinidadian society.
Cyril Dabydeen’s The Wizard Swami (1985) revolves around Devan, who lives in British Guiana, Sout... more Cyril Dabydeen’s The Wizard Swami (1985) revolves around Devan, who lives in British Guiana, South America and is of South Asian origin. Devan chooses to become a Swami after he is inspired by a Pandit. Fusing religion with politics, Devan envisions a Hindu Guyana. However, in spite of his efforts to mystify the South Asian community in urban Guyana, he fails. The Wizard Swami points to a divide in the way in which the South Asian diaspora in Guyana perceives Hinduism and the Guru—not all South Asian diasporas are looking to Hinduism and holy men for a guide to living.
This book explores the field of Comics Studies in South Asia, illuminating an art form in which t... more This book explores the field of Comics Studies in South Asia, illuminating an art form in which there has been a much-documented explosion of recent interest. A diverse group of scholars from Asia, Europe, and North America examine aesthetics, politics, and ideology in sequential art about South Asia and South Asian America. The book features contributions which address gender violence; authoritarian politics; caste discrimination; environmentalism; racism; and urban street art, amongst others. The unique interdisciplinary span of the volume considers mass popular comic books as well as the graphic novel. This edited volume would be of interest to those studying the influence of graphic novels, graphic narratives, and comic books in South Asia, as well as researchers interested in what these forms might have to say about important issues in society. This book was originally published as a special issue of the South Asian Review journal.
Routledge Handbook of Asian Transnationalism. , 2022
Analyzing Benyamin’s Goat Days (2008) and Pamela Fernandes’ Painting Kuwait Violet (2018), I argu... more Analyzing Benyamin’s Goat Days (2008) and Pamela Fernandes’ Painting Kuwait Violet (2018), I argue that through the situations protagonists face, the anecdotes about peripheral characters who are migrant workers from other Asian countries, the inclusion of Gulf history as it relates to importing Asian labor, and the insistence on cross-cultural communication and community as survival tools for migrant workers, the novels bear witness to the transnational plight of unskilled migrant workers in the Gulf. Although the protagonists in these novels are Indians, Benyamin and Fernandes show that the poor condition of unskilled migrant workers in the GCC countries is a Pan-Asian problem and should be dealt with as such.
This article is a reflection of the author’s experiences teaching a course titled ‘Women In Islam... more This article is a reflection of the author’s experiences teaching a course titled ‘Women In Islam’ [WIS] in an English Department at a medium, public, Masters granting, Liberal Arts university in the Midwestern United States. This paper argues for the importance of teaching WIS through a multi-genre, interdisciplinary, and global approach. The article refers to the following five teaching strategies: Thinking through History, The Lived Realities Lens, The Multi-Genre Approach, Fiction through a Global Lens, and Using VALUE rubrics as an Evaluation Tool.
Negotiating: Gender and Sexual Identity in Contemporary Turkey., 2016
As Turkey struggles to define itself both at the international level and within the confines of i... more As Turkey struggles to define itself both at the international level and within the confines of its own borders, its women strive to negotiate an identity for the self in a continually changing homeland. Contemporary short stories such as Esmahan Aykol’s Bayan Naciye House, Muge Iplikci’s A Question and Mine Sogut’s Why I Killed Myself in Istanbul narrate the lives of women repetitively coerced to construct their selves within the confines of Islam, secularism and patriarchal tradition. Dismayed with Istanbul, they are often unable to protect their bodies, their honor and their rights to live their lives as they please. Uncertain with the roles that they may be allowed to play in the construction of the nation state, the female characters in these stories realize that owing to the complex national identity of their westernized/modernized Islamic Turkey it is not possible to ascribe to any single definition of the self. Yet attempts to embrace multiple identities prove challenging as the dominant social and political structures require these women to adopt modernity in theory only. Seen as transgressors, these women are often lonely. This paper examines the challenges, anxiety, dilemma, fear, sexual frustration, despair and lack of recognition suffered by Turkish women through the various rhetorical devices (such as anaphoras, rhetorical questions, dialogues between Istanbul—usually portrayed as a male lover—and the female narrator, uncertain endings, myth and fantasy) used by the different writers of these stories.
This paper focuses on four popular UK based, desi food blogs by Anjali Pathak, Hari Ghotra, Malli... more This paper focuses on four popular UK based, desi food blogs by Anjali Pathak, Hari Ghotra, Mallika Basu, and Chintal Kakaya, who are ambassadors of the global justice charity Find Your Feet's (FYF) ‘Curry for Change’ (CFC) campaign. Reconfiguring and challenging geographical parameters and national boundaries, the bloggers team up with FYF to help fight hunger in African and Asian rural communities. Using the Internet as a platform to create awareness about the charity, the blogs share recipes and meal plans for dinner parties hosted in honour of the charity and invite the public to fundraising events. Concerned with human rights, these bloggers affect social change by empowering individuals and communities to participate in civic engagement, and occasionally to even challenge unfair government policies/practices. The blogs’ efficacy can also be measured through the funds raised, the public attention they receive from channels such as Indian food network and London Live, local/regional newspapers such as the London Evening Standard, and magazines like India's Complete Wellbeing Magazine. Food blogs that actively contribute to global justice movements cannot be seen as domestic reflections or exercises in nostalgia anymore. Referring to Habermas's notion of the public sphere and Nancy Fraser's concept of the transnational public sphere, I examine these food blogs as transnational public spheres. Based on textual analysis of blog entries related specifically to the CFC campaign and an examination of FYF's annual reviews, this paper examines how these food blogs have expanded in form and function by engaging in cyberactivism.
Using an ecocritical approach and discussing the theory of the graphic novel as it relates to Ind... more Using an ecocritical approach and discussing the theory of the graphic novel as it relates to Indian writing in English, this paper argues that In All Quiet in Vikaspuri Sarnath Banerjee blends the cli-fi genre with the medium of the graphic novel to illustrate “slow violence” that is perpetrated on nature in the name of vikas or progress. Through his text/image activism, Banerjee depicts India’s water wars at the community level, a corrupt political system, the shortsighted policies in politics and business, the detrimental effects of privatizing basic resources, the media’s lack of coverage of environmental issues, the paradoxical nature of the relationship that Hindus have with nature, and the inaction or silence that the average Indian maintains towards environmental concerns. These factors are forms of “slow violence.” Since there is no actual “violence” involved in any of these factors, the threat is difficult to translate. However, Banerjee responds to the challenge by intervening representationally to indicate “amorphous calamities” by (a) “devising iconic symbols” to illustrate the calamity and (b) by yoking popular objects to “amorphous calamities.” Personalizing the Anthropocene through an Indian cultural prism, Banerjee refers to popular sports, television dramas, Hindu mythology, and real environmental disasters. Ultimately, through his work, he holds up a mirror to his Indian readers to warn them of the dangers of keeping quiet in the land of progress.
In Sasthi Brata’s The Sensuous Guru, protagonist Ram Chakravarti migrates from India to America w... more In Sasthi Brata’s The Sensuous Guru, protagonist Ram Chakravarti migrates from India to America with the hopes of becoming a writer. However, in America he is seen as a representative of Hindu India. Capitalizing on the frenzy surrounding American Transcendentalist version of Hinduism and Tantra, Ram becomes guru “Chukker.” He “cures” disciples with sex therapy, wins the Nobel peace prize, and eventually becomes the president of America. Examining the irony and satire present in the novel, I argue that in The Sensuous Guru Brata mocks the 1960s American counter culture movement, the subsequent popularity of Hinduism brought about by Hindu gurus in the US in the 1900s, the Hindu gurus who “attempt to devise analogues that might make…[Hinduism] comprehensible to the Western mind” (Mehta 6), and the westerners who follow these gurus. Ultimately, the novel illustrates the plight of the post 1965 Indian immigrant to America.
Bollywood’s depiction of its female characters tends to be regressive. Recently, however, movies ... more Bollywood’s depiction of its female characters tends to be regressive. Recently, however, movies like Kahaani (2012), Queen (2014) and Gulaab Gang (2014) depict a limited presence of a male character or no male protagonist; thus focusing all attention on the female character and its development. Examining the construction/depiction of the Indian woman free from a validating male presence, this paper discusses the new trend in Bollywood post-2010 and views it as an indirect response to both the increasing role women are playing in the Indian economy and the rising violence directed towards Indian women in the 21st century. Introducing six tropes common to Kahaani, Queen and Gulaab Gang to analyze the new trend, the paper argues that these movies offer a nuanced understanding of the Indian woman by implicating the audience and its perception of female characters, and by simultaneously highlighting the inherent multiplicities within the seemingly homogenous category of Indian femininity. Depicted as individuals first and not symbols of family and nation, these new queens of popular Bollywood films set a precedent, provide some much needed inspiration and become empowered role models that resonate with the population.
Shani Mootoo’s Valmiki’s Daughter presents transsexuals repeatedly and traumatically conforming t... more Shani Mootoo’s Valmiki’s Daughter presents transsexuals repeatedly and traumatically conforming to the boundaries set by their familial and cultural background and highlights how class values determine notions of ethnic and sexual purity. The novel ends with Viveka’s impending immigration to Canada suggesting that in order to completely embrace her national, ethnical and sexual identities it is imperative to leave. This article examines the construction of gender by the upper-middle-class Indo-Trinidadian community presented in Shani Mootoo’s Valmiki’s Daughter. Queer bodies, like Valmiki and Viveka, perform heterosexuality while they are coerced to exist within the Indo-Trinidadian heteronormative social structure. Although queer desire in this community cannot be made public, this article argues that it allows queer characters to evade the racial othering of non-Indian Caribbeans and the heteronormative structure of the Indo-Trinidadian society, which forces them to confront their colonial and indentured histories by constantly reminding them of their (dis)located diasporic self. Through their performances, queer bodies are able to subvert heteronormative social frameworks and to accommodate their queerness.
The wealthy Indo-Trinidadians rigorously maintain and enforce an “authentic” Indianness—which translates into determining sexuality and gender roles according to parameters set by Indian moral codes, and ensuring conjugal and procreative heterosexuality. Queer bodies, coerced to exist within the community’s heteronormative social structure, perform heterosexuality to avoid discovery and to continue to remain within familiar social circles. This article argues that although queer desire in Mootoo’s Indo-Trinidadian community cannot be made public, it is only through sexual “aberrance” that queer individuals are able to assimilate with the non-Indian Trinidadian society.
Cyril Dabydeen’s The Wizard Swami (1985) revolves around Devan, who lives in British Guiana, Sout... more Cyril Dabydeen’s The Wizard Swami (1985) revolves around Devan, who lives in British Guiana, South America and is of South Asian origin. Devan chooses to become a Swami after he is inspired by a Pandit. Fusing religion with politics, Devan envisions a Hindu Guyana. However, in spite of his efforts to mystify the South Asian community in urban Guyana, he fails. The Wizard Swami points to a divide in the way in which the South Asian diaspora in Guyana perceives Hinduism and the Guru—not all South Asian diasporas are looking to Hinduism and holy men for a guide to living.
This book explores the field of Comics Studies in South Asia, illuminating an art form in which t... more This book explores the field of Comics Studies in South Asia, illuminating an art form in which there has been a much-documented explosion of recent interest. A diverse group of scholars from Asia, Europe, and North America examine aesthetics, politics, and ideology in sequential art about South Asia and South Asian America. The book features contributions which address gender violence; authoritarian politics; caste discrimination; environmentalism; racism; and urban street art, amongst others. The unique interdisciplinary span of the volume considers mass popular comic books as well as the graphic novel. This edited volume would be of interest to those studying the influence of graphic novels, graphic narratives, and comic books in South Asia, as well as researchers interested in what these forms might have to say about important issues in society. This book was originally published as a special issue of the South Asian Review journal.
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This article examines the construction of gender by the upper-middle-class Indo-Trinidadian community presented in Shani Mootoo’s Valmiki’s Daughter. Queer bodies, like Valmiki and Viveka, perform heterosexuality while they are coerced to exist within the Indo-Trinidadian heteronormative social structure. Although queer desire in this community cannot be made public, this article argues that it allows queer characters to evade the racial othering of non-Indian Caribbeans and the heteronormative structure of the Indo-Trinidadian society, which forces them to confront their colonial and indentured histories by constantly reminding them of their (dis)located diasporic self. Through their performances, queer bodies are able to subvert heteronormative social frameworks and to accommodate their queerness.
The wealthy Indo-Trinidadians rigorously maintain and enforce an “authentic” Indianness—which translates into determining sexuality and gender roles according to parameters set by Indian moral codes, and ensuring conjugal and procreative heterosexuality. Queer bodies, coerced to exist within the community’s heteronormative social structure, perform heterosexuality to avoid discovery and to continue to remain within familiar social circles. This article argues that although queer desire in Mootoo’s Indo-Trinidadian community cannot be made public, it is only through sexual “aberrance” that queer individuals are able to assimilate with the non-Indian Trinidadian society.
This article examines the construction of gender by the upper-middle-class Indo-Trinidadian community presented in Shani Mootoo’s Valmiki’s Daughter. Queer bodies, like Valmiki and Viveka, perform heterosexuality while they are coerced to exist within the Indo-Trinidadian heteronormative social structure. Although queer desire in this community cannot be made public, this article argues that it allows queer characters to evade the racial othering of non-Indian Caribbeans and the heteronormative structure of the Indo-Trinidadian society, which forces them to confront their colonial and indentured histories by constantly reminding them of their (dis)located diasporic self. Through their performances, queer bodies are able to subvert heteronormative social frameworks and to accommodate their queerness.
The wealthy Indo-Trinidadians rigorously maintain and enforce an “authentic” Indianness—which translates into determining sexuality and gender roles according to parameters set by Indian moral codes, and ensuring conjugal and procreative heterosexuality. Queer bodies, coerced to exist within the community’s heteronormative social structure, perform heterosexuality to avoid discovery and to continue to remain within familiar social circles. This article argues that although queer desire in Mootoo’s Indo-Trinidadian community cannot be made public, it is only through sexual “aberrance” that queer individuals are able to assimilate with the non-Indian Trinidadian society.