Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-225) and index.
Contents:
Mimicry and detection : dismantling identity in Michelle de Kretser's The Hamilton case -- In fear of monsters : women's identities and the cult of domesticity in British Ceylon -- Combatting myths : racial and cultural identity in postcolonial Sri Lanka -- Chandani Lokugé and Yasmine Gooneratne : deconstructing postcolonial tourism, exoticism, and colonial simulacra -- Diasporic identities : inscriptions of celebration and psychic trauma in western locations -- 'Pretty little tales' of substance: a conclusion.
Summary:
Women novelists of the Sri Lankan diaspora make a significant contribution to the field of South Asian postcolonial studies. Their writing is critical and subversive, particularly concerned as it is with the problematic of identity. This book engages in insightful readings of nine novels by women writers of the Sri Lankan diaspora: Michelle de Kretsers 'The Hamilton Case' (2003); Yasmine Gooneratnes 'A Change of Skies' (1991), 'The Pleasures of Conquest' (1996), and 'The Sweet and Simple Kind' (2006); Chandani Lokugés 'If the Moon Smiled' (2000) and 'Turtle Nest' (2003); Karen Robertss 'July' (2001); Roma Tearnes 'Mosquito' (2007); and V.V. Ganeshananthans 'Love Marriage' (2008). These texts are set in Sri Lanka but also in contemporary Australia, England, Italy, Canada, and North America. They depict British colonialism, the TamilSinhalese conflict, neocolonial touristic predation, and the double-consciousness of diaspora. Despite these different settings and preoccupations, however, this body of work reveals a consistent and vital concern with identity, as notably gendered and expressed through resonant images of mourning, melancholia, and other forms of psychic disturbance. This is a groundbreaking study of a neglected but powerful body of postcolonial fiction.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.