A Trans Journey Towards Resistance: Vulnerability and Resilience in the Dystopian Narrative of Manjula Padmanabhan

Abstract

This chapter explores how the idea of womanhood intersects with concepts of vulnerability and resistance in two feminist dystopian novels by South Asian writer Manjula Padmanabhan, Escape (2008) and its sequel The Island of Lost Girls (2015). It addresses how Padmanabhan brings out the fluid gendered resistance in the context of female genocide in India, in the dimensions of techno culture. By looking at sexual violence through the lenses of aligned resilience in solidarity as an analytical tool, through which the victims achieve empowerment, we argue that the presence of trans protagonists in the novels brings originality to the dystopian trope.