Alchemy of Desire, Revolt & Violence

A Study in Discourses of Desire

It is essential to set a balanced context for literary analysis amidst international, national and regional conditions. In terms of Indian perspectives, it travels deep down to religion, caste and cultural levels. To understand any Indian phenomenon, one needs to understand the diversity and its historical implications. Mahesh Elkunchwar as a notable Indian dramatist, holds a key position in Indian literature due to his excellent presentation of Indian consciousness on stage. Desire, revolt and violence are perhaps few of the most important issues in human relationships. The performance of the emotions on the stage receives special significance. The poststructuralist perspectives on Elkunchwar's plays by Vishnu Patil, present a fresh insight into the study of Indian drama in particular and critical thinking about desire and violence in general. It becomes a fine interweaving of eastern and western thinking about sexuality and violence. He investigates and offers deconstructive analysis on incest relationships, extramarital affairs, rape, prostitution, homosexuality, love relationships as depicted in the plays like Desire in the Rocks, Garbo, etc. He examines acts of violence and revolt in a post structuralist way especially in the light of ideas of post Lacanian critic Slovej Zizek. Revolt however is treated on both the levels i.e. feminist and general level. The book continuously attempts to unveil the ideological forces functional under many regular social practices especially in the form of patriarchy, religion and so on. It succeeds in doing so by combining views on the issues desire and violence from ancient Indian contexts and its evolution through time. The textual references serve the purpose of setting a balanced review and investigation of relevance of certain ideas and sexual politics and it also helps to understand reasons and culminations of violent responses and politics responsible for its origin.