“This is a Business Transaction, Fundamentally”: Surrogate Motherhood in Meera Syal’s The House of Hidden Mothers
Meera Syal’s latest novel, The House of Hidden Mothers (2015), depicts the current practice of international surrogacy and raises questions about this form of reproduction which commodifies babies and constructs poor women’s bodies in India and elsewhere as sites of reproductive exploitation. Non...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad de Zaragoza
2018-12-01
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| Series: | Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/6302 |
| _version_ | 1797903753188212736 |
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| author | Irene Pérez Fernández |
| author_facet | Irene Pérez Fernández |
| author_sort | Irene Pérez Fernández |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Meera Syal’s latest novel, The House of Hidden Mothers (2015), depicts the current practice of international surrogacy and raises questions about this form of reproduction which commodifies babies and constructs poor women’s bodies in India and elsewhere as sites of reproductive exploitation. Nonetheless, Syal’s novel challenges an initial reading of Indian surrogate mothers as mere passive victims of western capitalist demands and depicts a surrogate mother, Mala, who constantly subverts her position as a disempowered, ‘third world’ woman. I shall argue that the novel bridges the discursive western-constructed gap between ‘poor and disempowered’ Indian women and ‘rich and empowered’ British ones explicitly through its ending, but also implicitly by engaging with gender concerns related to the perception, (re)presentation and exploitation of women’s bodies in the United Kingdom and India alike.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:38:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-925076eab55345fd81a80bd201689ea3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1137-6368 2386-4834 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:38:51Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de Zaragoza |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-925076eab55345fd81a80bd201689ea32023-02-17T16:28:55ZengUniversidad de ZaragozaMiscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies1137-63682386-48342018-12-015810.26754/ojs_misc/mj.20186302“This is a Business Transaction, Fundamentally”: Surrogate Motherhood in Meera Syal’s The House of Hidden MothersIrene Pérez Fernández0Universidad de Oviedo Meera Syal’s latest novel, The House of Hidden Mothers (2015), depicts the current practice of international surrogacy and raises questions about this form of reproduction which commodifies babies and constructs poor women’s bodies in India and elsewhere as sites of reproductive exploitation. Nonetheless, Syal’s novel challenges an initial reading of Indian surrogate mothers as mere passive victims of western capitalist demands and depicts a surrogate mother, Mala, who constantly subverts her position as a disempowered, ‘third world’ woman. I shall argue that the novel bridges the discursive western-constructed gap between ‘poor and disempowered’ Indian women and ‘rich and empowered’ British ones explicitly through its ending, but also implicitly by engaging with gender concerns related to the perception, (re)presentation and exploitation of women’s bodies in the United Kingdom and India alike. https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/6302The House of Hidden MothersMeera Syalsurrogacyreproductive outsourcingAsian-British literature |
| spellingShingle | Irene Pérez Fernández “This is a Business Transaction, Fundamentally”: Surrogate Motherhood in Meera Syal’s The House of Hidden Mothers Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies The House of Hidden Mothers Meera Syal surrogacy reproductive outsourcing Asian-British literature |
| title | “This is a Business Transaction, Fundamentally”: Surrogate Motherhood in Meera Syal’s The House of Hidden Mothers |
| title_full | “This is a Business Transaction, Fundamentally”: Surrogate Motherhood in Meera Syal’s The House of Hidden Mothers |
| title_fullStr | “This is a Business Transaction, Fundamentally”: Surrogate Motherhood in Meera Syal’s The House of Hidden Mothers |
| title_full_unstemmed | “This is a Business Transaction, Fundamentally”: Surrogate Motherhood in Meera Syal’s The House of Hidden Mothers |
| title_short | “This is a Business Transaction, Fundamentally”: Surrogate Motherhood in Meera Syal’s The House of Hidden Mothers |
| title_sort | this is a business transaction fundamentally surrogate motherhood in meera syal s the house of hidden mothers |
| topic | The House of Hidden Mothers Meera Syal surrogacy reproductive outsourcing Asian-British literature |
| url | https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/misc/article/view/6302 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ireneperezfernandez thisisabusinesstransactionfundamentallysurrogatemotherhoodinmeerasyalsthehouseofhiddenmothers |