1. FUNNY BOY AS BILDUNGSROMAN
Pigs Can’t Fly
Aunty Radha
Shyam Selvadurai

2. Annie John & Funny Boy Annie John Funny Boy Queer Diaspora
-- Story of Growth of a girl
-- leaving home
-- Revision of Family structure
-- Same-Sex Relations
Funny Boy
-- Story of Growth of a boy, in relation to his family members
-- leaving home, civil war
-- Queer Identity
Queer Diaspora
-- Revision
-- Queering & Intersectionality
-- Diaspora & Intersectionality
Annie John & Funny Boy

3. Outline Introduction: the author, the book and Sri Lanka
“Pigs Can’t Fly”
I. Childhood Games and Social System
II. Deterritorialization of spaces of Power and Gender
“Aunty Radha”
I. “adults”: Radha, Anil vs. the other adults
II. Supporters and Obstacles between Radha & Anil
III. Arjie’s growth from chap 1 to 2.

4. The Author: Shyam Selvadurai
Born: Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1963
Father Tamil, mother Sinhalese
Immigrated to Canada, his family forced into exile after the 1983 racial riot against the Tamil in Colombo.
Education: York University, Toronto.
Funny Boy: A Novel in Six Stories --read by the Sri Lankan President and prompted a national debate on the need to repeal the antisodomy law in the country (Salgado 100)

5. Selvadurai about Funny Boy
“I’m gay and Arjie’s gay and both families left Sri Lanka, but that’s where it ends.
Arjie’s first experience and acceptance of himself happened in Sri Lanka and mine happened in Canada.
My family is also much more liberal. My father is Sinhalese and my mother is Tamil which was a huge thing at the time of their marriage so we were brought up differently from other kids. There was a lot of tolerance for difference.” (source)

6. Postcolonial Revision (1): Funny Boy
Genre: six stories
Societies/ Imperialism
Process displacement
“Childhood”
Gender
Memory
Identity
“Self-Other-ed”
Queering
1) The Bildung process was more devastating, more protracted, and less likely to
“succeed" in the ways white readers expected, particularly with respect to the forms “reconciliation,“ “compromise," and “accommodation" could or would take. (Hoagland 38)
2) Transcullturalism:
According to Jeff Lewis, transculturalism is characterised by cultural fluidity and the dynamics of cultural change. Whether by conflict, necessity, revolution or the slow progress of interaction, different groups share their stories, symbols, values, meanings and experiences. This process of sharing and perpetual 'beaching' releases the solidity and stability of culture, creating the condition for transfer and transition. More than simple 'multiculturalism', which seeks to solidify difference as ontology, 'transculturalism' acknowledges the uneven interspersion of Difference and Sameness. It allows human individuals groups to adapt and adopt new discourses, values, ideas and knowledge systems. It acknowledges that culture is always in a state of flux, and always seeking new terrains of knowing and being. (See Works Cited of pp1).
--Education: ambivalent, “un-learning” imperialist culture
-- Growth: Protracted displacement
-- trauma; -- diasporic & transcultural*

7. Queer-ing
Queer: “a term that challenged the normalizing mechanisms of state power to name its sexual subjects: male or female, married or single, heterosexual or homosexual, natural or perverse. Given its commitment to interrogating the social processes that not only produced and recognized but also normalized and sustained identity, the political promise of the term resided specifically in its broad critique of multiple social antagonisms, including race, gender, class, nationality, and religion, in addition to sexuality. …[Today’s renewed queer studies should stay] vigilant to the fact that sexuality is intersectional”* (Eng 1)
“The contemporary mainstreaming of gay and lesbian identity—as a mass-mediated consumer lifestyle and embattled legal category—demands a renewed queer studies ever vigilant to the fact that sexuality is intersectional, not extraneous to other modes of difference, and calibrated to a firm understanding of queer as a political metaphor without a fixed referent.” (Eng 1)

8. Intersection-ality of
Queer-ing
The contingency of the term*(1)
Remaining open to a continuing critique of its exclusionary operations
Normalization
Queering
Intersection-ality of
Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality*(2)
In her 1993 essay “Critically Queer,” Judith Butler writes that the assertion of “queer” must never purport to “fully describe” those it seeks to represent. “It is necessary to affirm the contingency of the term,” Butler insists, “to let it be vanquished by those who are excluded by the term but who justifiably expect representation by it, to let it take on meanings that cannot now be anticipated by a younger generation whose political vocabulary may well carry a very different set of investments.” (Butler qtd in Eng 3)
2) Traditional immigration studies (vs. queer studies): “This history, however, has virtually ignored the connections between heteronormativity, sexuality
and migration. Immigration scholarship, with its focus on various
social regulations, especially those related to the issues of ‘race’, class
and ethnicity, overlooks Foucault’s characterisation of sexuality as a
‘dense transfer point for relations of power’, a point which becomes
a focus of social regulation and biopower (1990, 103)”(Pecic 7)

9. Queer-ing: How?
Disclose multiple causality and how various factors interact with one another* (1)
Challenge authorities & binary oppositions by introducing the third, or fourth roles
Mobilization & Deterritorialization of identities: “By means of tactical deterritorialisation, we are able to challenge the restrictive binary of the local/global identity” (Pecic 8)* (2) identity/sexuality: not essence, not timeless, it is also not fixed in place
1) According to Eng, queer diaspora ‘investigates what might be gained
politically by reconceptualizing diaspora not in conventional terms
of ethnic dispersion, filiation, and biological traceability, but rather
in terms of queerness, affiliation, and social contingency’ (2003, 4).”(Pecic 10)
2) Diaspora forces us to acknowledge that ‘sexuality
is not only not essence, not timeless, it is also not fixed in
place; sexuality is on the move’ (Patton and Sánchez-Eppler qtd in Pecic 8).

10. 1. MULTIPLE FACTORS: RACE IN SRI LANKA
more here
Area: 65,610 km of Taiwan

11. Tamil vs. Sinhalese
Sinhalese（僧伽羅人）migrated from Northern India to Sri Lanka since 5th-6th century BCE, while Tamil (坦米爾人) came from Southern India around since 2th BCE.
Sinhalese -- Buddhism
Tamil -- Hinduism, more sent to Sri Lanka by the British government and supported by the latter.
Since its independence as Ceylon (i948), the Sinhalese (80% majority) put forth “Sinhala Only Law” (in 1956) in support of their political power, which causes discontent among the Tamil people (20%).

12. Documentary 3:00 – Tamil imported to Sri Lanka by the British
Sinhalese rise to power after Independence
Civil War: 4:00 the burning of the library  5: retaliation of Tamils
History updated:
civil war (4 peace talks, 100,000 people dead)
2004 – striken by South Asian tsunami –about 35,000 dead
LTTE defeated

13. Funny Boy: Structure
Funny Boy – set against the increasing violence between a between Sinhalese and Tamil in Sri Lank, culminating in the civil war which lasted for almost a decade( ).
The protagonist, "Arjie" Chelvaratnam, is the second-son of a privileged middle-class Tamil family in Colombo facing the need to conform to the government’s imposition of Sinhala-only policy and the growing racial conflicts.

14. Funny Boy
Connected stories of how Arjie is continually isolated from his family and then exiled from his society because of his gender orientation and the society’s racial tensions and despite attempts at breaking boundaries and rebellion.
"Pigs Can't Fly”-- Arjie's early childhood and his gravitation towards the imaginative games his female cousins play as opposed to his male cousins' beloved game of cricket.
"Radha Aunty" --Arjie's Aunt Radha, and her doomed affair with a Sinhalese man.

15. Funny Boy
"See No Evil, Hear No Evil“-- his mother's extra-marital affair with a childhood sweetheart.
"Small Choices" --chronicles one of Arjie's first crushes ­ a puppy love obsession with a young man employed by his Father
“The Best School of All” – Arjie’s experience of the conflicts between colonial education and Sinhalese nativism, between his need to conform and his love for Shehan Zoysa.
"Riot Journal" – first-hand accounts of anti- Tamil violence. (Black July, 1983)

16. “See No Evil, Hear No Evil“
Gender Hierarchy in games + the West
“Pigs Can’t Fly”
Gender Hierarchy in marriage+ Immigrants + Tamil vs. Sinhalese ( Burgher)
“Radha Aunty”
Mother’s Love Affair + Hotel & the West + Burgher + government control
“See No Evil, Hear No Evil“
Hotel Business + Father’s Friend + A’s love + Tamil vs. Sinhalese
“Small Choices”
Arjie at school and in love + colonial/gender education + nativism
“The Best School of All”
Tamil vs. Sinhalese
“Riot Journal

17. How is childhood presented? Anything you can relate to?
Growth in Social Constraints, Hierarchy & Beyond
What’s Queer-ed?
CENTRAL QUESTIONS

18. Childhood & Children in Chap 1
Ammachi/Appachi Amma/Father
Cricket Games
Janaki
Bride-Bride
Arjie
Her Fatness
Diggy
Muruges
Meena, Sanjay
Sonali
Aunt Kanthi
Leaving the safe harbor of childhood (5)

19. Adult Characters in Chap 2
Tamil vs. Sinhalese vs. Burgher
Ammachi
Father
(RAJAN)
Aunt Radha
Anil
Aunt Kanthi, Mala,
Aunt Doris
Arjie
Janaki
Disillusioned about wedding

20. Discussion Questions I. Childhood Games and Social System
Direct cruelty (6) vs. Kanthi Aunty seething anger beneath a guile (8)
Territory & Leadership:
How are the boys' game and girls' game divided up and located? Describe the other parts of Grandma’s house (p. 3)*
What are the rules of the boys' cricket game and the girls' Bride-Bride?   Do these rules make sense?   Do these groups' structure reflect that of adults, or not? 
How are “leaders” chosen in the children’s games and social games?
What does the title mean?

21. Discussion Questions II. Battle for Power & Gender Boundaries
Her Fatness vs. Arjie
How does Her Fatness fight for attention & power?
What gender roles do Arjie and Her Fatness take respectively in their power struggle? 
Cricket vs. Bride-Bride:
How does Arjie cross gender boundaries? Who else does so, too?
What roles do the adults (parents, Aunt Kanthi, grandma, Janaki) play?
What does the ending mean?

22. The title Funny --either humorous or strange (17); disgust
But Meena also crosses gender boundaries in playing the cricket game.
The other girls do, too, in the bride-bride game.
The mother’s purpose in allowing Arjie in her room when she dresses herself?
Arjie’s view of being a bride (5) and jewel and sari (15)
“Pigs Can’t Fly” the story is about the ideological system (the sky), and the power struggles within it.
the mother’s use of the phrase twice, the 2nd time sounding weary

23. “PIGS CAN’T FLY”

24. I. Children’s World and Their Views of the Adults
Avoid Mamachi (2) and Janaki
Fear: The dark corridor (2)  chap 2: the great grandfather’s photo (59; 85)
Territoriality and leadership (3)
Girls’ territory potential for free play of fantasy (4)

25. The Girls’ Game
Arjie as the leader because of “the force of his imagination”(p. 4)
His imagination– allows him to "leave the constraints of [his] self and ascend into another, more brilliant, more beautiful self" (5).
Still conditioned by the goddesses of the Sinhalese and Tamil cinema (breaking the racial boundary).  chap 2: his images of wedding (43)
A world for girls – the groom the most useless (p. 6)  Arjie’s role as a groom (31)

26. The Boy’s Game—Cricket
Competition -- with winning as the goal;
trading players
less powerful ones: e.g. Sanjay
girlie-boy: Arjie
the batting order – p. 26
Numbers marked in the sand for the players to step on;
The older and better ones play first (rule of tradition)

27. II. The Children’s Struggle for Power
Her Fatness – in need of attention
An outsider pp. 6-
Kanthi Aunt – her anger (pp. 7-8)
Wins attention
by lying about not having a friend & appealing to adult authority (7)
by showing off the dolls (p. 8) –which is less powerful than the bride-bride game;
by playing a loud groom (9)
by appealing to traditional gender boundaries (11) “A girl must be the bride.”

28. Arjie’s Fight back & Failure
Play by the rule: Insisting on the rule to be the first one to play  so that he becomes offensive and can run away
His use of the sari:
Kept in the bag as a weapon
later his Sari is gone – so is his power.
In chap 2, his “sari” (bed sheet & curtain) looks pitiful (51)
Agrees to play the groom, and then attracts the other girls’ attention.
Chap 2: finds that he’s left this world far behind

29. Ending: The Sea vs. the System
Amachi and her cane p. 38
The seaside and the tall building as a mirage p. 38
Exiled, facing the sea waves as a sign of fluidity

30. “RADHA AUNTY”

31. Discussion Questions The Adults’ world:
What roles do Ammachi, Amma, Aunt Doris, Aunt Mala and Aunt Kanthi play respectively?
How are Radha and Anil different, as adults, from the others?
Why is Radha close to Arjie? Why does she distance herself from Anil?
Arjie’s growth: How does Arjie grow up and change in this part of the story?
His view of Radha; of bride-bride;
His knowledge of racism; fear for the future
His being an accomplice of Radha
His view of wedding

32. Ammachi & Amma Ammachi Amma Supporter of Tamil tiger (60)
rigid discipline of her daughters, keeping them within the racial confine of Tamil
not wanting Radha to be picked up by a “Sinhalese boy” (56)
going to warn Anil’s family (60)
mad when the two are found together in a restaurant: call it “illicit relations”(74)
Amma
answers Arjie’s questions but in short sentences
Forgets when she’s supposed to pick up Arjie

33. Mala Aunty and Kanthi Aunty
see Radha in a restaurant with Anil
Radha cries: “I’m practically married.” (71)
their intervention bring the two closer.
It is actually the racial riots that “normalize” Radha and bring her back to her own community.

34. Arjie’s growth Changed his views of Radha and Anil
Radha: not like a bride in his imagination (45) changes his views because of her friendliness(47)  playing makeup and make her “the bestest bride” (50)  finds her beautiful
Anil: not like a lover (66)
disillusioned, he turns away from Radha’s wedding

35. Boundaries disclosed & blurred
between men and women
between different races (Tamils, Sinhalese and Burghers); customs and Western culture
The role of Western culture such as The King and I?

36. The King and I
Arjie envies children in the play Pied Piper because they can wear makeup and costume.
no mixed-race marriage, according to Amma
brings Radha and Anil together
also the performance (of Radha as a slave girl) shows they are broken apart

37. Mukkuthi [nose ornament]
REFERENCE (1):
Mukkuthi [nose ornament]

38. love story of Mani-lal and Sakuntala
REFERENCES (2)
love story of Mani-lal and Sakuntala

39. MANIPURI SILK SARI PITTU
Source: (1), (2)

40. Works Cited
Eng, David, Judith Halberstam and Jose Esteban Muños. ‘What’s Queer about Queer Studies Now?’, Social Text 84–85 (2005), 23(3–4): 1–17.
Pecic, Z.Queer Narratives of the Caribbean Diaspora Exploring Tactics. Palgrave Macmillan; 2013.