Representing Desire in Minor Literature: Characterisation in The White Tiger

Farooq Ahmad Sheikh
Assistant Professor, Department of English, North Campus, University of Kashmir, J&K, India.

^{Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 17, Issue 2, 2025. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v17n2.02g
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Abstract

The Lacanian subject has two distinct aspects: one corresponds to the structural subject shaped by the symbolic order. At the same time, the other transcends symbolisation or coding, referred to by Lacan as the subject of desire or the Real. Minor literature, defined as the literature of minorities expressed in a major language, also seeks to disrupt dominant codifications and convey the flow of pure desire. Viewed through a Lacanian lens, minor literature primarily engages with the Real. This paper examines The White Tiger as an example of minor literature, with a particular emphasis on its characterisation. The central argument is that the novel’s characters do not conform to traditional types, identities, or subject positions. Instead, they embody pure desire and are better understood as Lacanian subjects of desire/Real, rather than as ideological constructs within a discourse. The primary focus of the novel is to represent the reverse side of the subject or the desire rather than the discursive formation.

Keywords: Representing Desire, Minor Literature, Characterisation, Indian Novel, The White Tiger