The Politics of Alternative Sexuality

This book The Politics of Alternative Sexuality: Deconstructing Identity in Mahesh Dattani's Plays examines Dattani's dramaturgy as oriented towards the discourses of gender and sexuality. The book in order to explore the notions of gender/sexuality in Dattani's plays makes use of the poststructuralist theories which consider these notions as cultural constructs. These theories challenge them as fixed categories and offer the possibilities of alternative genders/sexualities. Dattani as a theatre artist represents alternative genders and sexualities within the textual framework of his plays as well as on the stage. He unravels the politics implicated in the dominant heteronormative sexual practices. He challenges the gender binaries and fixed identities and draws our attention to their discursive constructions. The lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders in his plays deconstruct the conventional notions of gender and sexuality. They represent the queer as alternative identities. They account for the gender ambiguity and gender ambivalence in the realm of sexual practices. They deliberately seek the epistemological and ontological possibilities of the non-heterosexual "Other."