Inscriptions of The Third Space: An Exploration of Select Contemporary Narratives

Abstract

Third Space thinking is emerging as an important area of enquiry in the socio-cultural studies to compensate the inherent deficiencies in binary thinking, bringing about a paradigm shift in our perceptions of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, and identity. The commonly accepted notions about binary thinking which dichotomizes identity into simple oppositions are challenged, opening up an in-between space or a liminal space. The Third Space refers to this interstitial space between the binaries. This is a liberatory space which holds and opens up numerous possibilities. There is an exponential growth of people who remain in the in- between space due to the ongoing migration, globalization and the resultant hybridity, cultural inter-mixings, and the formation of diaspora. The sexual minorities who are stamped as deviants or aberrations due to their difference in sexual orientation and appearance are also positioned in the in-between spaces. These people find it difficult to assert their identity, be it gender, race, language or nationality. I have focussed the present research work upon the inscriptions of the Third Space in select contemporary narratives. The narratives include Amitav Ghosh’s Ibis trilogy comprising Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke, and Flood of Fire, Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Rituparno Ghosh’s film, Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish, A. Revathi’s autobiography, The Truth about Me: A Hijra Life Story and Anzaldua’s autohistorio-teoria, Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza. The thesis is divided into four chapters in addition to “Introduction” and “Conclusion”. Chapter I “The Expressions of the Third Space” brings together the theoretical postulations of different critical thinkers and theoreticians like Homi K. Bhabha, Edward W. Soja, Henri Lefebvre, Gloria E. Anzaldua, and bell hooks relating to the Third Space. Chapter II, “Migration, Hybridity, and Identity in Ibis Trilogy” deals with migration, hybridity, identity, and the expressions of the Third Space in Amitav Ghosh’s Ibis Trilogy. Chapter III, “Borders and Borderlanders in Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza” studies the impact of borders upon the life of the borderlanders with a special focus upon Anzaldua’s Borderlands. Chapter IV “Gender Fluidity in Select Narratives” analyses Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish, a film by Rituparno Ghosh; The Ministry of Utmost Happiness written by Roy; and The Truth about Me: A Hijra Life Story, an autobiography of Revathi. It deals with the marginalized sexual minorities with specific reference to homosexuals and transgenders, and shows how they try to find a space for themselves in society by asserting their self and identity. “Conclusion” is a summation of the observations made in all the preceding chapters. It underscores the importance of Third Space thinking.