Surveillance as a Disciplinary Mechanism in Manjula Padmanabhan’s The Island of Lost Girls

Abstract

The Island of Lost Girls is a dystopian novel by the Indian English writer Manjula Padmanabhan. The novel features an apocalyptic world of environmental degradation and sexual violence. It can be also categorised as science fiction.  The novel, a sequel of Padmanabhan’s earlier Escape is about the continuation of the story of Youngest and Meiji.  Youngest’s attempts to unite with Meiji forms the crux of the story. Youngest escapes from the Forbidden Country in Escape by making a deal with General. The General uses surveillance a disciplinary mechanism to control Youngest while on his mission. In Discipline and Punish Michel Foucault adapts the idea of panopticon from Jeremy Bentham to show the power of disciplinary gaze.  The paper intends to study the panoptic surveillance mechanism used in the novel and its efficacy/ inefficacy in disciplining individuals.