Tishani Doshi’s The Pleasure Seekers: Exploring Limits of Acculturation

Abstract

Multiculturalism, as an area of research, has gained importance in these globalized times. In this context, the status of mixed-race children presents an interesting and intractable issue. The novel The Pleasure Seekers by TishaniDoshi, an acclaimed Indian poet andnovelist, who is herself a biracial child, goes deep into the problem. How the mixed race children fare vis-à-vis their parents, the first generation immigrants, is the focus of this novel. The three main case studies explored in this novel conform to the patterns of temporary acculturation, complete transculturation and failed acculturation respectively. The novelist, with the advantage of her poetic prose probes psychologically the mind of the characters to bring out the interplay between personality and the milieu. That the novel has autobiographical touch lends authenticity to the narrative and the conclusions.