21 – South Asian Diasporic Narratives: An Intersectional Exploration

October 2, 2025
8:30 am
Triplex 1017
The panel examines intersectionality in the context of South Asian diasporic writing. It proposes that most discussions of literary works from the diaspora are Indo-centric and predominantly Hindu. How do gender, sexuality, religion, diasporic location, nationality, racialization, caste, and disability shape diasporic narratives? How is intersectionality as an interpretive framework adaptable to the South Asian diasporic context? We seek to amplify voices often marginalized within South Asian diasporic studies to explore intersectional approaches to reading literary works from the diaspora. Potential topics for papers could include: • Diasporic locations beyond the US and UK • Indenture diasporas and questions of class and caste • Non anglophone writing from the South Asian diaspora • Writing for children and youth • LGBTQI narratives • Disability and representation • Caste and class in the post World War II South Asian diasporas • Dalit diasporas • Religion and diasporic narratives • Sri Lankan, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepali diasporas • Theorizing intersectionality in South Asian Diasporic narratives The goal of this panel is to interrogate the framework of intersectionality as it applies to South Asian diasporic narratives. We are also looking for papers that move beyond the current largely monolithic scholarship on diaspora narratives and which nuance intersectional framework as necessary to understand the heterogeneity of the community’s experiences.

Convenor

Iyer Nalini

Presentations

Archives of Reproduction: Intersectional Approach to Narratives of South Asian Indenture
Gooptu Subhalakshmi - Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, New York, United States
Narration as Disruption: Yoni ki Baat, Shailja Patel’s Migritude, and Caste Discrimination in Silicon Valley
Hawley John - Santa Clara University, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, United States
Health Narratives: Exploring Changing South Asian Diasporic Identities
Yadav Adarsh - PhD, English and Creative Writing Department, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
Mertle, Thawi and the Kilat Club Men: Class and Southeast Asia’s Ceylonese Tamils
Wong Abigail - Faculty of History, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Crossing Borders: Queerness, Freedom, Race in Contemporary Bangladeshi Immigrant Writings
Mookerjea-Leonard Debali - James Madison University, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, United States
Representations of Disability in South Asian Diasporic Literature
Jayasuriya Maryse - Saint Louis University, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, United States
Memoirs of Dalit South Asian American Women Writers: Migration, Race, and Caste
Iyer Nalini - English Department, Seattle University, Seattle, United States