Unravelling Disparities in Indian Sports YA: An In-depth Critical Analysis of Half the Field is Mine by Swati Sengupta

This article investigates the evolving role of sports as a reflection of the diverse dimensions of Indian society, intricately woven into its cultural, economic, and social currents. Within this framework, the emergence of sports narratives in India signifies a notable cultural transformation, particularly within young adult fiction. Swati Sengupta’s Half the Field is Mine (2015) makes a pivotal contribution to the reshaping of Indian fiction in English. Guided by Jeyaraj’s (2017) assertion of the transformative impact of young adult fiction in Indian literature, this paper undertakes a close textual and thematic analysis of Sengupta’s work, employing post-structural feminist and Foucauldian frameworks to interrogate how gendered spatial disparity, class inequality, and social stratification are constructed and contested within the narrative. The primary objectives of this article are to investigate the portrayal and critique of the unequal distribution of sporting spaces between genders; analyze the intersectionality of gender and class within the sporting context; and uncover the interconnected nature of gender, class, and other social categories contributing to complex patterns of inequality in young adult sports fiction. Additionally, the study evaluates the depiction of agency and empowerment of female athletes in challenging structural inequalities, highlighting instances of resistance and empowerment. Thus, this analysis combines close textual readings of the text with post-structural and Foucauldian feminism, contributing nuanced insights into the broader discourse on gender and sports.