A Marxist Perspective on Select Fiction by Indian Writers from the Gulf: Narratives of the ‘Permanently Temporary’ Migrants(Routledge Studies in Comparative Literature)

This book offers a critical lens to examine the socio-economic struggles and class dynamics of South Asian diasporic characters in Indian writing from the Gulf. It highlights how South Asian migrant characters remain hanging in a limbo in the exploitative neo-liberal capitalist structures of the Gulf. This book analyzes how the South Asian diasporic characters in such texts remain alienated from both their homeland and the host societies of the Gulf which is reflective of the commodification of labor in a transnational context. This book foregrounds the literature that often portrays the disillusionment of South Asian migrant characters whose dream of being prosperous clashes with the harsh realities of low wages, poor living conditions, and lack of basic migrant rights. Marxist critiques reveal the contradictions of globalization and neoliberal economies that perpetuate cross border inequalities. By foregrounding class struggle, this book emphasizes the systemic oppression faced by South Asian migrants and the socio-political conditions that reduce them to mere voiceless laboring bodies.

Table of Contents:
Quote Acknowledgments Preface List of Acronyms and Book Editions Used Chapter 1: Busting the Misconceptions of Migration: The Gulf Chapter Chapter 2: Local Labour v/s Foreign Labour: Understanding the Gulf Social Order Chapter 3: Decoding Class Politics of the Gulf Chapter 4: ‘Permanently Temporary’: Exploring the Dynamics of Time Chapter 5: Body as an Embodiment of Labour Intensification in the Gulf Chapter 6: Beyond the Gulf Dream Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Tasnima Yasmin is an Assistant Professor of English at RCC Institute of Information Technology. With a passion for interactive and inter-disciplinary teaching methods, she engages students to hone their English language and technical communication skills. She endeavors to help her students to acquire English language learning techniques through English literature and AI tools, hoping to bridge the gap between language learning and literary exploration. Her expertise and enthusiasm inspire learners to develop critical thinking skills and analytical techniques while encouraging them to read between the lines of narratives from across the globe. Her areas of research interest include Indian Diaspora Literature, Contemporary Diaspora Fiction in Translation and Gulf Studies.

Review :
“The book diversely captures the temporariness of South Asian labor migration in select literary texts in the geopolitical context of the Gulf” - Dr. Sayan Dey, Author of Garbocracy: Towards a Great Human Collapse “The book offers fresh critical perspectives on labor migration from South Asia to the Gulf in exploring both global cultural and economic connections to two critically important world regions” - Dr. Kristin Plys, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Canada