What's Eating Dad? Father Hunger and Hybridity in Viola Chandra's Medium Light with Nuts

Abstract

Abstract In this article, I examine the work of Gabriella Kuruvilla and engage closely with father-daughter eating disorder theory in order to elucidate the significant factors that affect the precarious eating behavior of the protagonist Valentina. In doing so, I illuminate how patriarchal thinking is at play in the protagonist's own construction of her eating disorder narrative. Finally, I consider the role of race and ethnicity in the eating disorder equation so as to illuminate the failure of Valentina's parents to accept her hybrid identity as both Indian and Italian, which, in turn, fuels her sense of Otherness and fragmentation.