Reconciling "Opposing Goods": Cosmopolitan Ethics In Bharati Mukherjee’s "Three Sisters From Calcutta" Trilogy

This thesis interprets Bharati Mukherjee’s "Three Sisters from Calcutta" trilogy,namely,Desirable Daughters(2002),The Tree Bride(2004),and Miss New India(2011)from the critical lens of "cosmopolitan ethics" proposed by Kwame Anthony Appiah.It aims to,firstly,investigate the trade-offs of "opposing goods" involved in transnational identity in the trilogy and,secondly,unveil the underlying theme of Mukherjee’s immigrant writing,i.e.,the ethical connotations of being a global citizen."Opposing goods" derives from Hegel’s classic distinction between Moralit?t and Sittlichkeit.In Appiah’s construction of cosmopolitan ethics,it corresponds to two concepts of obligations:one is universal and the other is particular.In the trilogy,Mukherjee’s contemplation on cosmopolitan ethics is embodied in the reconciliation of three pairs of "opposing goods":first,the constant interaction of individuality and sociability in the ethical lives of three sisters in Desirable Daughters;second,the limbo of assimilation to America and attachment to Bengal in the protagonist’s root-searching in The Tree Bride;third,the balance of universal concern and respect for legitimate difference in cross-cultural conversations in the context of globalization in Miss New India.The "opposing goods" implied in the trilogy demonstrates the ethical orientation of Mukherjee’s immigrant writing,and to a large extent,it also attests to the misreading of what is generally accepted post-colonial writings.Although idealized and empirical,the cosmopolitan ethics in Mukherjee’s novels ultimately reveal her concern for individual immigrants and her vision of building an enlightened global community.The thesis includes five chapters.Chapter One is an introduction,which encompasses the life of Mukherjee and her writing career,a literature review,and an overview of Appiah’s concept of "cosmopolitan ethics." Chapter Two examines how the identities of the three main characters in Desirable Daughters are constructed from both individual and social levels,pointing out the importance of the balance between autonomy and sociability in the construction.Chapter Three aims to reconcile the conflicts of multiple identities involved in cross-border immigration in The Tree Bride,justifying the ethical legitimacy of the protagonist’s search for family roots from the perspective of "rooted cosmopolitanism." Chapter Four explores the issue of individual responsibility towards others in the age of globalization,the phenomenon of "cosmopolitan contamination," and finally,the ethics that are taken to be a world citizen in the internal migration of the protagonist in Miss New India.Chapter Five is the conclusion,pointing out that the ultimate orientation of Mukherjee’s migration writing is her ethical view of identity.