A Study On Construction Of Masculinities In Anita Desai’s Fasting,Feasting

Anita Desai,a contemporary Indian writer who has been nominated for the Booker Prize three times,has a profound impact on contemporary Indian literature.Desai personally experienced the cultural conflicts between the East and the West,and vividly presented these conflicts and her thoughts in her works.Her works can be divided into two categories:one is the exploration of the inner world of Indian women;the other is the expression of the complex mentality of the intellectuals through male experiences due to a rootless life in alien countries.Fasting,Feasting organically integrates the above two types in the same work.However,most of the studies have focused on the culture and mental activity represented by the female characters in the novel,ignoring another important aspect of the novel,the cultural shock experienced by Indian man in the West,typified by the United States.The new trend of gender studies in recent years indicates that research approach on the male characters in novels can help readers better understand the complexity of gender and related issues,so as to have a deeper understanding and interpretation of the works.Based on Connell’s masculinity theory framework,this thesis analyzes the masculinity embodied in the male characters in the novel and its formation reasons from the perspectives of social hierarchy,economic status and food culture.The thesis first reviews the research status of Anita Desai’s novel Fasting,Feasting,and expounds the concepts and definitions related to masculinity.Then it makes a literature review on the research and the significance of masculinity,focusing on Cornell’s discussion of four types of masculinity,as well as the mobility and variability of masculinity,describing the impact of social hierarchy,economic status and food culture on the construction of masculinity.Starting from the third chapter,the thesis analyzes the characteristics of masculinity and the influencing factors of its composition in combination with the living environment and personality characteristics of several male characters in the novel.From the perspective of the correlation between masculinity and hierarchy,the thesis firstly makes a comparative study between white supremacy in America and patriarchy in India as well as their influence on masculinity through close reading of the text.Taking Arun’s father and Mr.Patton as the representative figures,it analyzes the characteristics of the dominant masculinity that they showed.Secondly,the thesis explores the relationship between masculinity and economic status step by step based on the structural model of being educated and work,as well as work and economic status.It selects Arun and Rod as the education group,and Arun’s father and Mr.Patton as the working group,respectively,to elaborate on the similarities and differences in their masculinity construction.Considering the significance of food culture in the novel Fasting,Feasting,this thesis puts more emphasis on analyzing the role of vegetarianism and carnivorism in the construction of masculinity,reflecting the oppression of Arun caused by social pressure and traditional condition.This thesis uses Connell’s theory of masculinity to analyze the masculinity embodied in Anita Desai’s novel Fasting,Feasting.It is expected that this attempt will bring more research about the male characters in Fasting,Feasting,and inspire more scholars to explore the character interpretation in the novel from the perspective of masculinity.