Lost and Found: Multiple Identities in the Canadian Tamil Diaspora: A Comparative Study of Shyam Selvadurai's Funny Boy and Anand Mahadevan's The Strike

Abstract

I am researching the books, Funny Boy and The Strike by two Tamil Canadian Diaspora authors, Shyam Selvadurai and Anand Mahadevan respectively to find out, through comparative analysis, how the South Asian writers construct multiple identities through the characters in the novel. My primary aim is to compare the works to understand the complex diasporic identities using postcolonial, queer and cultural literary theories. Another important objective of the research is to understand how cultural identity differs in both novels as Selvadurai is a Sri Lankan and Mahadevan is a South Indian Tamil. This comparison contributes to a further understanding of the differences and similarities in the diasporic Identities in the Tamil Diasporas.