BEING AND PERFORMING THE MASCULINITY IN KARIM RASLAN’S GO EAST

  • Collin Jerome Centre for Language Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
Keywords: masculinity, male homosociality, homosexuality, homoeroticism, gender borders

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of being and performing masculinity in Karim Raslan's short story Go East. Torn between being a man in his own terms and performing socially endorsed masculine roles and sexual desires, the protagonist, Mahmud, negotiates and transgresses gender borders, resulting in his inability to sexually perform with women and incapacity for emotional and physical intimacy with men. Yet, he overcomes his impotence through heterosexual intercourse despite imagining making love to men.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Beasley, C. (2005). Gender and sexuality: Critical theories, critical thinkers. London: Sage Publications.

Brod, H. (Ed.). (1987). The making of masculinities. London: Unwin Hyman.

Chesler, P. (1978). About men. London: The Women’s Press.

Clark, M. (2004). Men, masculinity and symbolic violence in recent Indonesian cinema. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 35(1), 113-131. [CrossRef]

Connell, R. W. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. Cambridge, England: Polity Press.

Edwards, T. (2004). Queering the pitch: Gay masculinities. In M. S. Kimmel, J. Hearn, & R. W. Connell (Eds.), Handbook of studies in men and masculinities (pp. 51-68). London: Sage.

Fadillah, M. et. al., (2004). Voices of many worlds: Malaysian literature in English. Selangor: Times Edition.

Gerson, J. M., & Peiss, K. (2000). Boundaries, negotiation, consciousness: Reconceptualizing gender relations. In M. S. Kimmel (Ed.), The gendered society reader (pp. 118 - 131). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hearn, J. (1987). The gender of oppression: Men, masculinity and the critique of Marxism. Brighton, England: Wheatsheat.

Raslan, K. (1996). Heroes and other stories. Singapore: Times Private.

Kimmel, M. S. (Ed.). (1987). Changing men: New directions in research on men and masculinity. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Kaufmann, M. (Ed.). (1987). Beyond patriarchy: Essays by men on pleasure, power and patriarchy. Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Morrell, R., & Swart, S. (2004). Men in the third world: Postcolonial perspectives on masculinity. In M. S. Kimmel, J. Hearn, & R. W. Connell (Eds.), Handbook of studies in men and masculinities (pp. 90-113). London: Sage.

Pease, R., & Pringle, K. (2001). A man’s world? Changing men’s practices in a globalised world. London: Zed Books.

Peletz, M. (1996). Reason and passion: Representations of gender in a Malay society. University of California Press: Berkeley, Los Angeles & London.

Plummer, K. (2004). Male sexualities. In M. S. Kimmel, J. Hearn, & R. W. Connell (Eds.), Handbook of studies in men and masculinities (pp. 178-195). London: Sage.

Quayum, M.A. (1998). In blue silk girdle: Stories from Malaysia and Singapore. Serdang: UPM Press.

Sedgwick, E. K. (1985). Between men: English literature and male homosexual desire. New York: Columbia Press.

Shamsul, A. B., & Fauzi, M. (2006). Making sense of Malay sexuality. jsari, 24, 140-160.

Taga, F. (2004). East Asian masculinities. In M. S. Kimmel, J. Hearn, & R. W. Connell (Eds.), Handbook of studies in men and masculinities (pp. 129-140). London: Sage.

West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (2000). Doing gender. In M. S. Kimmel (Ed.), The gendered society reader (pp. 131-149). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Published
2008-07-18
How to Cite
Jerome, C. (2008). BEING AND PERFORMING THE MASCULINITY IN KARIM RASLAN’S GO EAST. K@ta: A Biannual Publication on the Study of Languange and Literature, 10(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.10.1.1-13
Section
Articles