Redefining the Sexual Orientations in Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia

Abstract

The paper will study Kureishi's treatment of gender and sexuality from the perspective of his character's sexual orientation. I will examine his first novel, The Buddha of Suburbia, to find out the sexual orientations of his characters. Kureishi's body of work has touched upon nearly every aspect of sexuality in his novels. He has gone very deep to portray his character's sexual orientation without any restriction. He uses his writing ability to put such critical themes of sexuality like homosexuality, bisexuality, lesbianism into his novels. Kureishi has experimented with his character's deep sexual idiosyncrasies like orgies and infidelity in their sexual relations. His protagonists get their sexual identities after going through many social, political, and cultural upheavals.