Queer Voices and Gender Fluidity in Indian Writing in English
Sr No:
Page No:
32-36
Language:
English
Authors:
Dr. Bisheshwar Ray*
Received:
2026-04-08
Accepted:
2026-05-13
Published Date:
2026-05-25
Abstract:
This paper investigates the articulation of queer voices and the representation of gender fluidity in Indian Writing in English
(IWE) from the late twentieth century to the present. Situating itself at the intersection of queer theory, postcolonial studies, and
feminist criticism, the paper examines how writers such as Vikram Seth, Vikram Chandra, Arundhati Roy, R. Raj Rao, Mahesh
Dattani, and Anjali Joseph have engaged with non-normative sexualities and gender identities within the specific cultural, legal, and
historical contexts of the Indian subcontinent. The paper argues that queer Indian writing in English cannot be adequately understood
through Western queer frameworks alone; it must be read in relation to indigenous traditions of gender multiplicity — including the
figure of the hijra, the concept of tritiya-prakriti (the third nature), and pre-colonial erotic cultures — as well as through the legacy of
colonial law and the postcolonial state's ambivalent relationship to LGBTQ+ rights. The paper traces the movement from coded
representation to explicit self-articulation in IWE, analysing the aesthetic strategies through which queer subjectivity has been
constructed, contested, and celebrated.
Keywords:
Queer theory, Indian Writing in English, gender fluidity, postcolonialism, hijra, LGBTQ+, Section 377, non-normative sexuality.