Abstract
While there in an exhaustive list of literature produced by diasporic South Asian writers that voices a multitude of concerns for both men and women of this descent, the voice that speaks to the South Asian young adult needs to be highlighted and explored in detail. This is especially crucial as the majority of metropolitan young adult texts are largely Eurocentric in nature. Novels with themes that appeal to a young reader with subject matter consistent with the age, experiences and challenges of the young adult and with a young non-white protagonist are rare. This paper introduces a South Asian Diasporic Metropolitan Young Adult text to investigate how it can interpolate into the consciousness of the Metropolitan diasporic South Asian young reader as well as into the western narrative space. This is done by focusing on the ways in which South Asian elements of place, history, and allegory interpolate into the narrative space of Tanuja Desai Hidier’s young adult novel, Born Confused (2002). The ultimate aim of this paper is to show that South Asian Diasporic Metropolitan Young Adult Literature can play a role in interpolating transnational heritage by creating an awareness of cultural heritage on familiar young adult grounds and decenter Eurocentric narrative discourses. Keywords: transnationalism; interpolation; young adult; South Asian diaspora; Eurocentric; diasporic consciousness.
Highlights
Fiction writers make choices as to what they introduce and these decisions cannot be lightly dismissed as they can have a lasting impact in the minds of readers especially non-discerning young readers
We explore the creative art of Metropolitan Diasporic South Asian writers, who through their writing create a space for young adults of South Asian descent to discover their place in society
A survey of popular young adult fiction that is on the bestseller list in major bookshops in Europe and the United States, and Asia indicate the preference for books mainly written by western Metropolitan authors
Summary
Fiction writers make choices as to what they introduce and these decisions cannot be lightly dismissed as they can have a lasting impact in the minds of readers especially non-discerning young readers. A survey of popular young adult fiction that is on the bestseller list in major bookshops in Europe and the United States, and Asia indicate the preference for books mainly written by western Metropolitan authors These books deal with subject matter that appeals to the younger crowd such as fantasy, romance, sex, horror, teen drama and so forth and are readily devoured as teen culture by young adults. Change is a difficult time in every child going through adolescence and is normally a time where there is an adjustment phase filled with anticipation, anxiety maybe even fear in some During this phase between childhood and adulthood most young adults are aware enough to be conscious of the process and it is comforting to be able to find understanding, reassurance and the company of those who can share their mutual experience and feelings. It is with this in mind that the ensuing discussion draws on the Metropolitan South Asian Young adult text Born Confused (2002) written by a diasporic South Asian writer, Tanuja Desai Hidier
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