Ways of belonging: 'I belong with the lame ducks' (and lesbian cows) Suniti Namjoshi's The conversations of cow

This dissertation examines representations of 'otherness' in Suniti Namjoshi's novel, The Conversations of Cow. It maps out how Namjoshi continually locates and foregrounds 'difference' on a multiplicity of levels, such as 'race', gender, sexual desire and sexuality. It posits that among Namjoshi's central concerns are the actual processes of 'othering' and marginalisation; that is, the various overt and covert ways in which dominant cultures/discourses create, maintain and perpetuate racist, patriarchal, heterosexist/homophobic ideologies. This dissertation also examines how, through the dialogues that the characters engage in, Namjoshi's text explores ways in which minoritised 'others' engage with these discourses- how they can strategically negotiate and subvert them, and create critical and conceptual spaces for their voices to be heard. It concludes that finding ways of belonging is indeed different from 'fitting in', or being made to 'fit in'.