This disertation deals with the question of the common Bosnian identity in post-Yugoslavian fiction. It first sets up basic theoretical principles: the phenomenon of national literature and literature identity - only to prove later, on several examples of pre-Yugoslavian and Yugoslavian fiction, that such identity did exist. Finally, the work analyses several quotes of both Yugoslavian and exile authors and seeks, leaning on the theory of the myth falling apart, to establish the answer to the above question. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Le récit littéraire au tournant du XXIe siècle peut se présenter sous la forme du récit d’enquête. Cette thèse se propose d’examiner ce modèle tel que le mettent en œuvre Thierry Beinstingel, Jean Rolin et Emmanuel Carrère. La pratique de ces trois écrivains pourrait permettre de mieux repérer l’esthétique et les enjeux de cette modalité narrative en émergence. Dans ces récits, le narrateur se trouve d’abord privé de vérité par un récit autoritaire, contre lequel il reconquiert son autonomie perceptive. Sa liberté retrouvée se manifeste par l’entrée dans l’enquête. Le narrateur élit alors un objet de recherche, un motif aléatoire ou improbable, personne, projet, objet, territoire et entreprend le récit de son exploration. À partir de ce prétexte, il interroge donc le sens de sa présence au monde et s’observe percevant, lisant, interprétant et réagissant. Sa liberté se traduit alors par son implication sensible et réflexive. Entre récit de réalité et fiction, ces récits volontiers digressifs opèrent aux confins de la narration, de l’essai et de l’investigation journalistique. Un tel modèle met en œuvre une attitude ou un ethos de chercheur hésitant et perplexe. Cependant, se construit en arrière-plan une dynamique à la fois narrative et réflexive, au cours de laquelle l’énonciateur entre dans l’observation intense du monde présent, y conduit librement sa réflexion au moyen, entre autres, de la dérive essayistique, renouvelle le discours critique sur l’état de société et propose des modalités de reconstruction imaginaire du monde, réaffirmant une liberté créatrice, voire une capacité insurrectionnelle contre la prétention du monde tel qu’il est à être le seul possible. / Literary narrative forms at the dawn of 21st century sometimes take the form of an enquiry. The present thesis aims to examine in detail this narrative technique as practised by Thierry Beinstingel, Emmanuel Carrère et Jean Rolin. The way they use it could help to understand and identify the aesthetic qualities and purposes of this emerging narrative mode. In these stories, the narrator feels his own thoughts as locked inside an authoritarian doxa which he must first overcome to recover his freedom of perception. He can then become involved in the enquiry, which can be understood as a phenomenological way to be aware. He then selects an arbitrary or improbable motif as the goal for his quest, which may be a person, an object, a project, an area, and undertakes to tell the story of his own inquiry. From this starting point, he begins to question the meaning of his existence and to observe himself making sense of, reading, thinking about and reacting to things. Between fiction and nonfiction, these frequently digressive tales often border on novels, essays or investigation journalism. The narrator always looks puzzled, hesitant and does not seem to trust his own approach. Yet in the background we witness the emergence of a dynamic both narrative and introspective through which the narrator becomes an acute observer of the world around him. He follows freely his train of thought through among other things the use of the essay form to drift from an idea to the next, finding new means of expressing the critique of social problems, creating novel ways of building new fictional worlds and perhaps even managing to rebel against the idea that there is no alternative to the world as it exists.

Éditer l’œuvre d’un poète « indigène », à l’heure de l’Algérie française, nécessite un changement des schèmes de perception de la société française, mais plus encore, écrire en français une œuvre qui se veut affranchie et libératrice demande un effort et sans doute un choix politique particuliers. Au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l’œuvre de Kateb Yacine qui s’énonce dans et par l’histoire, s’inscrit dans un champ littéraire et intellectuel français en restructuration. Les maisons d’édition optent pour des stratégies éditoriales influencées par des intellectuels désireux de changer la société et créateurs de nouvelles philosophies de vie : le Personnalisme, l’Existentialisme. Des figures cristallisent cette puissance fondatrice : Mounier, Sartre, Jeanson, Senghor, Césaire, Fanon. Le rôle et l’évolution de la revue Esprit, média et réceptacle intellectuel, sont exemplaires et participent grandement à faire évoluer les politiques et la société française. Les liens qui unissent Esprit et la maison du Seuil favorisent à diffuser ces idées. La lutte anti-colonialiste, qui trouve ses sources dans les idées philosophiques et, en fin de compte, dans l’expérience de la Résistance, oriente le champ intellectuel et pousse à des positionnements intellectuels tranchés. Cette histoire conditionne la réception de son œuvre aujourd’hui. La lecture de l’œuvre, particulièrement Nedjma, se fait au carrefour d’enjeux culturels et politiques : illustration de la francophonie, reconnaissance d’une partie de la jeunesse française issue de l’immigration maghrébine. Elle apparaît dans les programmes du Français. / Editing the work of a “native” poet , when Algeria was a French colony, requires a change in the perception habits of the French society, but furthermore, writing in French a piece which is intended to be emancipated and liberating demands a particular effort and definitely a particular political choice. In the aftermath of World War II, Kateb Yacine’s work which enunciates itself in and by history, is in line with a French literary and intellectual field in reconstruction. Publishing companies choose editorial strategies influenced by intellectuals desirous to change the society and creators of new life philosophies: Personalism, Existentialism. Some writers crystallize this founding power: Mounier, Sartre, Jeanson, Senghor, Césaire, Fanon. The role and the evolution of the magazine Esprit, an intellectual media and receptacle, are exemplary and take great part in the evolution of French society and politics. The union between Esprit and Seuil editions helps spreading these ideas. The fight against colonialism, which finds its sources in philosophical ideas, and, ultimately, in the experience of the Resistance, directs the intellectual field and compels clear-cut intellectual positions. This history conditions the reception of his work today. The reading of the work, particularly Nedjma, cannot be separated from political and cultural issues: illustration of the French-speaking world, acknowledgement of a part of the French young people coming from the North African immigration. It appears in the programming of French lessons.

Esta tese de doutorado tem como objetivo analisar como a produção literária contemporânea é estudada no livro didático utilizado no Ensino Médio em dois países latino-americanos: Brasil e Argentina. Esta pesquisa tem caráter bibliográfico e documental, tendo em vista que realizamos o trabalho mediante o estudo de modelos de ensino de literatura em livros didáticos e em documentos oficiais que orientam e direcionam a escolha de conteúdos para as séries básicas e intermediárias, como o Guia Nacional do Livro Didático, diretrizes e parâmetros curriculares, programas nacionais de ensino, incluindo partes da legislação pertinente em cada país. Realizamos uma análise procurando verificar como se propõe o ensino de literatura contemporânea em livros didáticos de nível médio nos dois países, buscando compreender e refletir sobre os processos de ensino, observando qual o tratamento indicado para o estudo de literatura, qual o destaque para os textos contemporâneos, quais as propostas de análise e interpretação de textos apresentadas, que autores são estudados. Nesses dois países, o ensino de literatura orienta-se por linhas teóricas e metodológicas diferentes no que diz respeito ao recorte de autores a serem estudados e ao processo de seleção e organização do conteúdo. No Brasil, seguimos uma linha historiográfica de exposição do conteúdo através da periodização da literatura e, na Argentina, a proposta de organização do curso se dá em torno dos gêneros literários aliados à apresentação de temáticas que permitem a apreensão da identidade nacional. Os escritores em destaque, nos dois países, iniciaram sua produção em meados do século XX, mas estão sendo reavaliados de acordo com a recepção de suas obras. Essa reavaliação é feita em diferentes âmbitos: pelos escritores atuais; pelos leitores e pela crítica especializada. A produção literária mais recente acaba por atualizar as obras desses escritores, fazendo delas a origem de tendências presentes no século XXI. Esse diálogo com as obras desses escritores os coloca no centro dos debates sobre o contemporâneo. Tendo em vista o fato de que trabalhamos com o que está presente no livro didático, nossas reflexões reuniram contribuições críticas de diferentes linhas teóricas. Foram utilizados os conceitos de sistema literário, cunhado por Antonio Candido, e de transculturação, defendido por Angel Rama, como um instrumento teórico para melhor compreensão das produções literárias da América Latina; bem como os estudos de Bakhtin sobre gêneros e os princípios da estética da recepção de Jauss, entre outros. / The present thesis aims at analyzing how contemporary literary production is approached in high school coursebooks in two Latin American countries: Brazil and Argentina. The research has a bibliographical and documental focus, since the standards of teaching literature, official documents such as the Guia Nacional do Livro Didático, curriculum and content standards and national teaching programs were taken into thoughtful consideration, including the existing legislation in each country. The investigation shed light on the teaching of contemporary literature based on high school coursebooks, in the sense of reflecting upon teaching processes, text interpretation and authors under study. The two aforementioned countries follow diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. In Brazil, a historiographical framework is set through literary periodization; in Argentina, literary genres and national identity-oriented themes serve as course basis. In both countries, the authors put into perspective are being revisited in terms of literary reception, intensely developed in the 21st century. Such a dialogue covers a broad spectrum of substantial criticism. Key concepts were explored in the research, mainly those discussed by Antonio Candido (the literary system) and Angel Rama (transculturation) so as to better interpret Latin American literary works. Bakhtin (theory of genre) and Jauss (reception theory) also support the investigation.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:58:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Paula Rodrigues da Silva.pdf: 6358020 bytes, checksum: 3ba63c6c2470e79ec0d8794b6770cf9f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The main objective of this research is to examine, in the book Rasif: mar que arrebenta by Marcelino Freire, the author's method of composition and how ethical and aesthetic issues were dealt with on the book. We consider the importance of current debates about the contemporary and the art produced during this period, taking into account the active and creative role of criticism. To guide these reflections, we propose as hypothesis: the study of the tangle of discursive voices that make up the book and violate the reader's perception, causing weirdness and unpredictability; the characters building as performance that "dramatizes" the discourse, inscribing the reader as a performer who participates in the enactment of language; and the erasure as discourse procedure and as a method of creating the illustrations, leading to the questioning of traditional social patterns of language and literature itself, revealing the conflicts of contemporary times. Support for this work was found on reflections on literature produced by Italo Calvino; notions of post-dramatic theater proposed by Hans-Thies Lehmann, and performance by Paul Zumthor, and propositions on the contemporary developed by Linda Hutcheon and Giorgio Agamben. The research results reinforce the use of procedures such as erasure and fragmentation in the construction of a work that moves between different literary genres, dialogs with tradition and does not shirk from the contemporary discussions, even the utopian ones / O objetivo central desta pesquisa é examinar, no livro Rasif: mar que arrebenta de Marcelino Freire, o método de composição do autor e a maneira como questões éticas e estéticas foram problematizadas na obra. Considera-se a importância dos debates atuais sobre a contemporaneidade e a arte produzida neste período, levando-se em conta o papel ativo e criador da crítica. Para conduzir estas reflexões, propomos como hipóteses: o estudo do emaranhado de vozes discursivas que compõem o livro e que violentam a percepção do leitor, causando estranhamento e imprevisibilidade; a construção das personagens como performance que teatraliza o discurso, inscrevendo o leitor como performer ao participar da encenação da linguagem; e a rasura como procedimento discursivo e como método de gravação das ilustrações, gerando o questionamento dos padrões sociais tradicionais da língua e da própria literatura, desnudando os conflitos da contemporaneidade. Fundamentam este trabalho reflexões sobre literatura elaboradas por Ítalo Calvino; noções do teatro pós-dramático propostas por Hans-Thies Lehmann, e de perfomance, por Paul Zumthor, além de proposições sobre o contemporâneo desenvolvidas por Linda Hutcheon e Giorgio Agamben. Os resultados da pesquisa ressaltam a utilização de procedimentos como a rasura e a fragmentação na construção de uma obra que transita entre diferentes gêneros literários, dialoga com a tradição e não se furta às discussões, mesmo utópicas, próprias da contemporaneidade

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:58:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Milton Sgambatti Junior.pdf: 3731587 bytes, checksum: 20d0ce057f0f69a1cc02a446b06c2008 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-07-05 / The main objective of this research is the study of the book Nada me Faltará of Lourenco Mutarelli in view the absence of a narrator and the way the narrative installs itself at the intersection between the novel and the graphic novel, significant fact arising to an author of comics. To conduct these reflections we propose as a hypothesis nuclear the fact that this is a novel that, to be write just for dialogues, stands on the threshold between the novel and the graphic novel, creating a sort of sequential narrative art from the present, in experience of the here and now of the relation it establishes between the text and the reader. As grounds for this research are reflections about narrator and about the concept of history by Walter Benjamin, and the critical positioning of Will Eisner on the narrative art of the graphic novel. The analysis results highlight how critical Nada me Faltará is located around for new narrative format made from residues and forgetting in whose void spaces and reticence signs, materialized by graphic sign ... are inscribed actions of a narrator in state of an output, typical of contemporary times / O objetivo central desta pesquisa é o estudo do livro Nada me Faltará de Lourenço Mutarelli, tendo em vista a ausência de um narrador e a maneira como a narrativa se instala na intersecção entre o romance e a graphic novel, fato significativo para um autor advindo dos quadrinhos. Para conduzir estas reflexões, propomos como hipótese nuclear o fato de ser este um romance que, ao ser construído apenas por diálogos, coloca-se no limiar com a graphic novel, criando uma espécie de arte narrativa sequencial a partir do presente, na experiência do aqui e agora da relação que estabelece entre o texto e o leitor. Fundamentam este trabalho as reflexões sobre o narrador e o conceito da história, de Walter Benjamin, além do posicionamento crítico de Will Eisner sobre a arte narrativa da graphic novel. Os resultados da análise crítica ressaltam como Nada me Faltará se encontra em novo formato narrativo feito de resíduos e esquecimento, em cujos espaços vazios e reticenciosos materializados pelo sinal gráfico ... , inscrevem-se gestos de um narrador em estado de potência, próprio da contemporaneidade

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-02-22T11:45:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 José Ribamar Ferreira.pdf: 884058 bytes, checksum: bc17949ed0cb882824fec45ea3cec3a3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-22T11:45:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 José Ribamar Ferreira.pdf: 884058 bytes, checksum: bc17949ed0cb882824fec45ea3cec3a3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-17 / This research aims to investigate the construction of subjectivity in Antonio Tabucchi’s novel Afirma Pereira, as well as the writing resources used by the author in the making of a certain type of subject amidst the existential uncertainties in the end of the 1930s, in the context of the Salazar regime. The analytical bias of this study assumes that Antonio Tabucchi proposes, throughout the novel, literature as a form of political resistance, and also the construction of one’s subjectivity in the search of self-affirmation in the middle of Portugal’s totalitarian ideology. Moreover, this research demystifies the ideological discourses that have contributed to the deconstruction of the subjectivity of the subject, such as alienation, self-restraint, and solitude. We furthermore identify in Afirma Pereira the identity crisis of the modern man, who was trapped in his “hegemonic self” and, therefore, alienates himself. Finally, we problematize the appearance of existential problems experienced by the character Pereira in that very troubled period of the history of Portugal, such as anxiety, melancholy, fear, insecurity, solitude, and uncertainties, among other symptoms of that country’s social-historical situation during the Salazarism. Concerning the construction of the subjectivity, the research is based on the reflections of Jean-Paul Sartre, Kierkegaard, Fernando Pessoa, Octavio Paz, and other authors. Through this research, we hope to communicate to the reader that it is indeed possible, from the enunciative voice of Afirma Pereira’s testimony, to elucidate and demystify ideological discourses and ethnocentric paradigms that prevail over people’s consciousness and prevent them from asserting themselves in the world / O objetivo desta pesquisa é investigar a construção da subjetividade no romance Afirma Pereira, de Antonio Tabucchi, e quais os recursos de escrita de que o autor se vale para construir certo tipo de sujeito em meio às incertezas existenciais no final da década de 1930, no contexto salazarista. A pesquisa se dá pelo viés da análise de que Antonio Tabucchi traz presente no romance a literatura como resistência política, a construção da subjetividade do sujeito em busca de se autoafirmar em meio as ideologias totalitárias de Portugal; também desmistifica discursos ideológicos que contribuíram para a desconstrução da subjetividade do sujeito bem como: a alienação, o comedimento, a solidão entre outros. Identificamos ainda, no romance Afirma Pereira, a crise de identidade do homem contemporâneo, que se prendeu no seu “eu hegemônico” e por isso se aliena. Por fim, problematizamos a aparição das problemáticas existenciais vivenciadas pela personagem Pereira, naquela fase tão conturbada de Portugal, entre elas: ansiedade, melancolia, medo, insegurança, solidão, incertezas, entre outros sintomas da situação sócio-histórica do país durante o salazarismo. Fundamentam a pesquisa, em relação à construção da subjetividade, as reflexões de Jean-Paul Sartre, Kierkegaard, Fernando Pessoa, Otávio Paz e outros autores. Esperamos, por meio da nossa pesquisa, dizer ao leitor que a partir da voz enunciativa do testemunho do romance Afirma Pereira, é possível sim, elucidar e desmistificar discursos ideológicos e paradigmas etnocêntricos que sucumbem a consciência das pessoas, impedindo-as de se autoafirmar no mundo

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:12:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nelma Aronia Santos.pdf: 1368034 bytes, checksum: 9ca57f61e44700af4fc485fde5c05d89 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-05-09 / The purpose of this study is to analyze the processes of the media discourse present in the works of Rubem Fonseca. Among these processes, emphasis will be placed on the aesthetics of the grotesque and the spectacular, present both in his printed works and in the language used in its inner workings. The text corpus researched here covers the following sample of short stories by Fonseca: Livro de ocorrências, Corações solitários, Relato de ocorrência, Dia dos namorados, Duzentos e vinte e cinco gramas, Nau Catrineta and A arte de andar nas ruas do Rio de Janeiro. This text corpus was published between 1963 and 1992. It was selected due to the fact that its production provides a kind of narrative of the consolidation of mass communications media in our country. The main theoretical references on which our research is based include Mikhail Bakhtin, Wolfgang Kayser and Muniz Sodré, notable scholars of the grotesque; Guy Debord, a scholar of the society of the spectacle; Patrick Charaudeau, who describes and analyzes media discourse and is staging and expression strategies; Rildo Cosson, a scholar of hybrid texts, above all those that involve Brazilian journalism; David le Breton, who studies contemproary culture from the perspective of the body; and Zygmunt Bauman, for insight into human coexistence in the urban space. Our methodological procedure consists of allusive bibliographical research on the state of the art in studies and Brazilian media. The primary result is intended to be an observation of the potential for exchange between the spheres of literature and more popular media forms. We also intend to contribute to research that tries to comprehend the processes of literary creation from an inter-semiotic perspective / O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar os procedimentos do discurso midiático presentes na obra de Rubem Fonseca. Dentre tais procedimentos, dar-se-á ênfase a estética do grotesco e do espetacular presentes tanto na mídia impressa, quanto na linguagem utilizada nos seus bastidores. O corpus da pesquisa compreende o seguinte recorte de contos fonsequianos: Livro de ocorrências, Corações solitários, Relato de ocorrência, Dia dos namorados, Duzentos e vinte e cinco gramas, Nau Catrineta e A arte de andar nas ruas do Rio de Janeiro. Trata-se de um corpus publicado entre 1963 e 1992. Sua seleção deve-se ao fato de sua produção ser concomitante com a consolidação dos meios de comunicação de massa em nosso país. Os principais referenciais teóricos sobre os quais nossa pesquisa está amparada contemplam Mikhail Bakhtin, Wolfgang Kayser, e Muniz Sodré, notórios estudiosos do grotesco; Guy Debord, estudioso da sociedade do espetáculo, Patrick Charaudeau que descreve e analisa as especificidades do discurso midiático e suas estratégias de encenação e enunciação; Rildo Cosson, estudioso dos textos híbridos, sobretudo daqueles que envolvem a Literatura e o jornalismo Brasileiro, David Le Breton, que estuda a cultura contemporânea sob a perspectiva do corpo, e Zygmunt Bauman, para compreensão da convivência humana no espaço urbano. Nosso procedimento metodológico constitui-se de pesquisa bibliográfica alusiva ao estado da arte dos estudos e à mídia brasileira. Ambicionase como principal resultado o apontamento das relações de intercâmbio possíveis entre as esferas da literatura e àquelas das mídias mais populares. Pretendemos contribuir também com as pesquisas que buscam compreender os processos de criação literária numa perspectiva intersemiótica

La littérature chinoise contemporaine, presque inconnue il y a une trentaine d’années en France, commence aujourd’hui à occuper une place que l’on ne peut plus ignorer. Notre étude, qui présentera d’abord un panorama de la traduction et de la réception de cette littérature en France (1981-2012), s’efforcera ensuite d’explorer en détail des aspects techniques de la traduction : étudier les stratégies mises en place, mettre en valeur les efforts tentés par les traducteurs et analyser des difficultés et problèmes de traduction existants. Une telle recherche descriptive et analytique portera sur six objets de traduction, qui constituent toutes des défis traductologiques : “graphie et dessin des caractères chinois’’, “jeux de mots’’, “proverbes’’, “xiehouyu’’, “onomatopées’’ et “discours direct sub-libre’’, ceci dans le cadre de trente-quatre traductions de sept écrivains contemporains : Mo Yan 莫言, Su Tong 苏童, Yu Hua 余华, Bi Feiyu 毕飞宇, Chi Li 池莉, A Cheng 阿城 et Jia Pingwa 贾平凹. L’exploration des stratégies s’effectuera dans une approche dialectique qui va bien au-delà des dichotomies théoriques opposant radicalement l’auteur et le lecteur. En étudiant convergences, diversités et complexités de pratiques, nous tenterons d’apporter un éclairage sur des facteurs qui influencent ou régissent l’agir du traducteur, et ceci de façon ciblée selon chacun des six objets étudiés. Loin de vouloir dresser une liste des inadéquations, pertes ou erreurs de traduction, ou encore donner des injonctions, nous espérons attirer l’attention sur les réelles contraintes ou difficultés que les traducteurs du chinois rencontrent durant leur travail, et susciter des occasions de réflexion. / Chinese contemporary literature, while almost unknown thirty or more years ago in France, begins to occupy a place we can non longer ignore. In the present work, after presenting a panorama of the translation and the reception of this literature in France (1981-2012), we will try to explore in detail some technical aspects of its translation : strategies used by the translators and the efforts they make when facing translation problems. Being a descriptive and analytical research, it will deal with six translation objects : “spelling and image of Chinese characters’’, “wordplay’’, “proverbs’’, “xiehouyu’’, “onomatopoeia’’ and “sub free direct discourse’’, taking into account thirty four translations of seven Chinese contemporary writers : Mo Yan 莫言, Su Tong 苏童, Yu Hua 余华, Bi Feiyu 毕飞宇, Chi Li 池莉, A Cheng 阿城 and Jia Pingwa 贾平凹. The analysis of different strategies will be done in an dialectic approach which aims to overcome theoretical dichotomies opposing radically the author and the reader. While studying convergences, diversities and complexities of methods, we will try to shed light on factors that influence or govern the choices of the translator, in a targeted manner, according to each of the six studied objects. Far from establishing a list of unsuitable choices, losses and translation mistakes or issuing instructions, we wish to draw attention to the real constraints or difficulties that translators of the Chinese language come across during their work, and offer opportunity for thought.

This thesis explores the construction and use of the hijra figure in fictional literature. It argues that hijras are utilised as both symbols of deviance and central points around which wider anti-sociality circulates. In order to contextualise these characters and offer a deeper understanding of the constructed nature of their representations, this thesis works with four frames of reference. It draws respectively on Hindu mythology (chapter one), the Mughal empire and its use of eunuchs, which the authors of fiction use to extend their representations of hijras (chapter two), British colonialism in India and its ideological frameworks which held gender deviance to be a marker of under-civilisation (chapter three) and the postcolonial period, in which hijras continue to fight for their rights whilst attempting to survive in an increasingly marginal social position (chapter four). Examining the literary material through the lens of these four frameworks shows, historically, the movement of the hijras in the public imaginary away from being symbols of the sacred to symbols of sexuality and charts the concurrent shift in their level of social acceptance. In terms of their literary representations, it is seen that authors draw upon material informed by each of the four frameworks, but never in simple terms. Rather, they work imaginatively but often restrictively to produce an injurious or detrimental image of the hijras, and they apply multiple historical frameworks to the same narratives and individual characters, with the result of marking them as timeless figures of eternal otherness. The image of hijras as sacred beings in Hindu mythology is recast as them being terrifying figures who are liable to curse binary-gendered citizens if their extortionate demands are not met (chapter one). The political prominence of Mughal eunuchs and their position as guardians of sexual boundaries and purity become treasonous political manipulation through the enactment of secret plots, often involving sexual violence, to impact on political events (chapters two and three). The criminalisation of hijras as a means of pushing them out of public visibility becomes naturalised anti-sociality and a shadowy existence at the social margins (chapter three). Finally, in a public environment which has both seen a major increase in campaigns for hijra rights and acceptance, but which has met with fierce opposition, the hijras are overburdened with associations which render them as hyperbolic and ultimately unsustainable figures (chapter four). Ultimately, these constructions facilitate sensationalised storylines set in the criminal underworld. Whilst the thrilling nature of these stories has the potential to capture a readership, this comes at the expense of the hijra characters, who are rendered as inherent criminals, sexual aggressors and wilfully anti-social. Campaigns to protect hijras as a third-gender category, guarantee their legal rights and end their criminalisation for the first time since 1860 have been publicly prominent since 2001; these campaigns are now coming before parliament and formal decisions are expected imminently. Examining understandings of hijras outside of their communities is thus politically timely and necessary for disrupting the cycle of overburdening them as society's gendered scapegoats, contributing to a project of more nuanced understandings necessary for their social integration.