Kaochen Liao
ABSTRACT
Hanif Kureishi’s novella Intimacy (1998) is a first-person confessional writing that presents the protagonist Jay’s decision to leave his children and their mother—his partner Susan. Jay loses enthusiasm for Susan since he cannot bear the stagnation of their life. Even though he still loves the children, Jay wants to leave Susan and be with the seemingly docile Nina. Although Kureishi’s monologue style makes explicit Jay’s dissatisfaction with Susan, so that his decision to leave does not have much suspense, his feelings for children, thinking about intimacy, varied comments on female characters, and reflections on his male friends’ intimacies make this novel highly complicated. Some critics have criticized Jay for his masculine selfishness, misogyny, and anti-feminism, or even equated Jay with Kureishi, who also left his ex-girlfriend. Others have focused on Jay’s contradictory traits—his courage to confess and leave home, and his selfish, cruel, and immature attitude. This paper explores the interlocking relationship between Jay’s intimacy and confessional writing in terms of the lingering structure of patriarchy. The author believes that labeling Jay as a misogynist or a hero does not explain what is wrong with his masculinities and why masculinity, not femininity, is the crux of his intimacy problems. Through the study of entanglements between masculinities and patriarchy, the author believes that male dominance, identification and centeredness may be the reason why some men are impotent in intimacy and must rely on confessional writing to regain their self/power. Through studies of confessional writing and intimacy, gender differences and patriarchy will be revealed from Jay’s narratives, thus showing the interlocking relationship between patriarchal masculinity, intimacy, and confessional writing. This paper explores how Jay becomes a victim/perpetrator of patriarchy, and why his confessional writing and home-leaving reaffirms his old self and conducts him into a patriarchal society where he finds his path of least resistance through embracing male-centered values.
KEYWORDS: patriarchy, masculinity, intimacy, confession, Hanif Kureishi
DOI: 10.30395/WSR.202506_18(2).0002
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