Men and Masculinities in South Asia's Narratives of War and Conflict (Meegaswatta)

© Franziska Röber

DAAD Research Scholar

Name

Ms Thilini Meegaswatta M.A.

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Chair of English Literary Studies

Chair of English Literary Studies

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This doctoral project focuses on the intersections of conflict, violence, masculinity, and narrative and investigates the configurations of men and masculinities in a selection of conflict literature from South Asia. Primarily using feminist, masculinity studies, and queer theoretical perspectives to read literary representations of men and masculinities, this study elaborates how conflicts and associated forms of violence and discourses exert pressures on individuals, shape discourses of gender, and enable or prevent performative subject positions within gendered structures of power. The focus is on how South Asian masculinities evolve in crises; how the discursive boundaries of masculinity expand beyond the more visible warrior, heroic, aggressive masculinities to bring to light thwarted, female, feminine, non-heroic, anti-heroic, resistant, queer, precarious masculinities. As such, this study is interested in the constructive and productive character of different forms of violence animated by protracted conflict in terms of social and gender order, and masculinity in particular.