Literature in the Age of Commodities

A Baudrillardian Comparative Study of Margaret Atwood and Manju Kapur

Abstract

In contemporary consumer societies, material objects rarely remain confined to their utilitarian functions; instead, they operate as symbolic systems through which identity, desire, and social relations are negotiated. Drawing on Jean Baudrillard’s theory of objects, this paper undertakes a comparative reading of Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman (1969) and Manju Kapur’s Home (2006) to examine the gendered workings of commodification in everyday life. However, the novels emerge from distinct socio-cultural contexts—late-capitalist North America and post-liberalization India—both foreground consumer culture as a formative force shaping female subjectivity. Through close textual analysis, this article explores how objects mediate power relations, normalize patriarchal expectations, and sustain middle-class aspirations. While Atwood employs satire and allegory to expose the violence concealed within consumerist logic, Kapur’s realist narrative reveals the quieter, more gradual internalization of commodification within domestic spaces. Reading through a Baudrillardian lens, these texts treat consumer culture not as a passive backdrop but as an active presence that structures emotional, bodily, and social experience. The paper contributes to feminist literary criticism by emphasizing material culture as a central narrative agent and by extending Baudrillard’s theoretical insights within the study of contemporary women’s fiction.