| ISSN: 2583-4371 | ISSN: 2583-4371JOURNAL ARTICLE
Abstract: The closing years of the 20th century witnessed a renewed interest in body studies. It is reflected in cultural studies, gender studies and geographical studies. While the traditional model concentrates on a body that is pre- social, the new perspectives treat body as socially constructed. Literature too has responded to this turn towards the space of the body. Jeet Thayil’s Narcopolis, published in 2012, is one of those works that capture this orientation on body. Against the existing notion of body as natural, unified and static, Thayil presents body as socially constructed and culturally conditioned. Thayil’s telling of the cultural life of Bombay in turn becomes a survey of the diverse bodies that inhabit its cultural space. Body spaces are marked by the coding of culture. It may be reflected through dress codes, food and fashion styles or bodily adornments. As shown in the novel, bodies are marked by gender roles and specific sexual expectations. Body is also treated as a place which reflects the dominant traces of cultural classification and the resulting preferences. Narcopolis Thus, becomes a tale of alternate body types, bodily practices and perspectives that inhabit the streets of Bombay.
Keywords: body, cultural text, cultural coding, nationalism, gender coding, border crossings, performance, transgender.
Article Info: Received: 23 Mar 2024, Received in revised form: 21 Apr 2025, Accepted: 28 Apr 2025, Available online: 05 May 2025
DOI: 10.22161/ijtle.4.3.1
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