Of Men, Machines and Apocalypses:

Masculine Anxieties in Indian Speculative Fiction

Authors

  • Dibyadyuti Roy

Keywords:

Speculative fiction, postcolonial masculinity, technology, apocalypse, militarization, anxiety

Abstract

Exploding bombs embedded with catastrophic potential have remained central to our eschatological conceptualizations for more than a century. Future war fiction—a key sub-genre of speculative fiction—in building upon this obsession introduces us to unforeseen apocalyptic settings, which are brought forth through a nexus between gendered bodies and destructive military machinery. In underscoring the decidedly masculine nature of future war fiction, this article explores depictions of anxious postcolonial masculinity within the little-explored terrain of Indian speculative fiction. Apocalyptic settings in these texts, I argue, provide a topos for enacting postcolonial masculine anxieties, which are subsequently countered through making male bodies contingent on the volatile performances of destructive military technology. In utilizing R.W Connell’s conceptualization of “hegemonic masculinity,” I explore the reasons behind the emergence of postcolonial masculine insecurities, which, I argue, results from India’s colonial history and its continued legacy within the subcontinent. Finally, my examination of representative Indian speculative texts, namely Mainak Dhar’s Line of Control (2009) and Sami Ahmad Khan’s Red Jihad (2012) emphasizes that making hegemonic postcolonial masculinity contingent on the destructive capabilities of military technology results in unstable and threatening masculine performances; much like the unpredictable nature of war machinery highlighted in these texts.

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Author Biography

Dibyadyuti Roy

Dibyadyuti (Dibs) Roy is a Doctoral Fellow and Instructor in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at West Virginia University, where he teaches courses in advanced literature and writing. He came to West Virginia by way of the University of Glasgow where he completed his M.Litt in Modern Literature, Theory and Culture. His dissertation project explores performances of masculinity within nuclear discourses and have led to him discovering the far-reaching effects of the atomic age on our daily existence. He has current and forthcoming publications on varied fields ranging from Video Game Studies to British Theatre. Besides his scholarly pursuits, he particularly enjoys immersing himself and his students in the wondrous world of speculative fiction and fantasy literature. 

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Published

2021-10-28

How to Cite

Roy , D. (2021). Of Men, Machines and Apocalypses:: Masculine Anxieties in Indian Speculative Fiction . Sanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry, 2(1), 50–71. Retrieved from https://sanglap-journal.in/index.php/sanglap/article/view/44