2026-06-27 –, Room 403 PC Desk (Seats 30)
Indian novels and cinema have undergone significant transformations in recent years, increasingly engaging with themes that were once considered taboo, such as lesbianism. This thesis attempts to examine the role of Indian novels and cinema in creating a representational space for queer women within society.
To challenge prevailing taboos surrounding lesbianism, this study explores the portrayal of queer women in Manju Kapur’s A Married Woman, Abha Dawesar’s Babyji, and the transnational Indian film Fire directed by Deepa Mehta. These works are among the few Indian narratives that explicitly depict lesbian relationships and female same-sex desire. The thesis argues that such portrayals contribute toward fostering social acceptance of alternative sexualities by presenting queer women with emotional depth, agency, and legitimacy.
The study examines how Indian novels and cinema help shape a more positive outlook toward lesbianism in the psyche of readers and viewers. Through nuanced characterization and realistic storytelling, A Married Woman, Babyji, and Fire challenge heteronormative frameworks and offer alternative models of identity within the Indian socio-cultural context. These texts and the film are analyzed as cultural interventions that question dominant ideologies and open dialogue on female sexuality.
The thesis employs media theory and queer theory as its primary theoretical frameworks to analyze how representation functions in literature and cinema. Key themes such as the male and female gaze, emotional complexities of queer relationships, ideological constructions of reality, and the generic differences between novels and film are explored. Chapters One and Two focus on a close reading of the novels, while the subsequent section examines the film Fire. Together, these chapters highlight how narrative forms contribute to the evolving discourse on lesbian identity in Indian society.
Vaishali Gupta holds an M.A. in English (Honours), an M.Phil. in English Literature, and a B.Ed. She has a strong academic background in literary studies and cultural analysis, with a keen interest in gender studies, queer theory, and contemporary Indian literature and cinema. Her research engages with questions of representation, identity, and marginal voices within Indian cultural narratives. The paper titled “Representation of Lesbianism in Indian Culture: A Comparative Study of Select Indian English Novelists’ Characterization and Depiction in Indian Film” reflects her scholarly focus on examining how Indian English novels and cinema construct, negotiate, and challenge societal perceptions of lesbian identity.