A Poststructuralist Feminist Reading of Jhumpa Lahiri's Short Stories

This book examines Cixous¿ major concepts in Lahiri¿s four short stories including. For Helen Cixous and other poststructuralist feminists, the term subjectivity is a critical concept. Cixous proposes an unpredictable subjectivity which cannot be predetermined through patriarchal binary oppositions. Cixous regards biological difference as an obstacle for women to attain nonpatriarchal subjectivities. She seeks an appropriate model of sexuality which presents autonomous masculinity or femininity. She proclaims that heterosexuality is another concept which restricts women¿s subjectivities to a hierarchical dualism. She suggests a new third subjectivity which is not related to masculine order for its meaning. It is the Cixousian feminine which is eager to transform the historical restrictions imposed on women. Cixous postulates that each of the two terms male and female requires the other one to gain significance. Therefore, the relation between man and woman is interdependent and complementary.