Style and Techniques in the Novel Namesake
Working Paper No. 18
Struggle to Acculturate in the Namesake:
A Comment on Jhumpa Lahiri 's Work as Diaspora Literature!
Mahesh Bharatkumar Bhatt
GJ!jarat Arts &Science College, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to bringforth the wqy in which Jhllmpa Lahiri, a Plllitzer prize winner novelist explores the dilemma of name and immigrant 's sense of identity and belongingness in the novel The
Namesake. The paper discllsses the term 'diaspora: and their role in the present dt!Y world, the mqjor isslles of mllltimltllralism, stmggle for name, identity and belongingness sJ(fJered0 ' the characters in the noveL Some light is also thrown on the movie 'Namesake ' based on the novelprodJlced I!y Mira Nair.
Keywords: Diasporic writlng, Indian poetlcs, Immigrants, Indian diaspora,
Multiculturalism, Cultural dislocation.
1. The Term Diaspora and the Role of Indian Diaspora
Etymologically, the term Diaspora coined from Greek word Diaspeirein - "to scatter about, disperse", from Dia means "about, across" + Speirein means "to scatter". It was used by the ancient Greeks to refer to citizens of a dominant city-state who emigrated to a conquered land with the purpose of colonization, to assimilate the territory into the empire. During the ancient times a large number of Indians migrated to Far East and South East Asia to spread
Buddhism. During the colonial period, the migration was a history of misery, deprivation and sorrow. The third wave of migration from the nineteenth century was mainly to the industrialized, developed economies. The Indian diaspora is a generic term to describe the people who migrated from territories of the republic of Jndia. The situation today is largely the "success story" of the Indian diasporas in the Silicon Valley and the other professionals mainly settled in the U.K., North America and Europe. In the Namesake, Gogol 's parents
Ashoke and Ashima belong to this wave of immigration to the United States
Struggle to Acculturate in the Namesake:
A Comment on Jhumpa Lahiri 's Work as Diaspora Literature!
Mahesh Bharatkumar Bhatt
GJ!jarat Arts &Science College, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to bringforth the wqy in which Jhllmpa Lahiri, a Plllitzer prize winner novelist explores the dilemma of name and immigrant 's sense of identity and belongingness in the novel The
Namesake. The paper discllsses the term 'diaspora: and their role in the present dt!Y world, the mqjor isslles of mllltimltllralism, stmggle for name, identity and belongingness sJ(fJered0 ' the characters in the noveL Some light is also thrown on the movie 'Namesake ' based on the novelprodJlced I!y Mira Nair.
Keywords: Diasporic writlng, Indian poetlcs, Immigrants, Indian diaspora,
Multiculturalism, Cultural dislocation.
1. The Term Diaspora and the Role of Indian Diaspora
Etymologically, the term Diaspora coined from Greek word Diaspeirein - "to scatter about, disperse", from Dia means "about, across" + Speirein means "to scatter". It was used by the ancient Greeks to refer to citizens of a dominant city-state who emigrated to a conquered land with the purpose of colonization, to assimilate the territory into the empire. During the ancient times a large number of Indians migrated to Far East and South East Asia to spread
Buddhism. During the colonial period, the migration was a history of misery, deprivation and sorrow. The third wave of migration from the nineteenth century was mainly to the industrialized, developed economies. The Indian diaspora is a generic term to describe the people who migrated from territories of the republic of Jndia. The situation today is largely the "success story" of the Indian diasporas in the Silicon Valley and the other professionals mainly settled in the U.K., North America and Europe. In the Namesake, Gogol 's parents
Ashoke and Ashima belong to this wave of immigration to the United States
References: Alexander, M. (1993), Fault Lines, New Delhi: Penguin. Barringer, F. (2006), Book Review: Jhumpa Lahiri 's The Namesake ', North Carolina: Carolina Review. Book Browse (2007), Author Interview. July 28, 2007. Source: http://www.bookbrowse.com/authors Davis, R Dodiya, J. (Ed) (2006), Critical Essays o/Indian writings in English, New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. Dhavan, R.K. (Ed.) (2001), Writers o/the Indian Diaspora, New Delhi: Prestige Books. Gandhi, M. (1921), Young India, Navjivan. Jain, J. (Ed.) (1998), Writers o/the Indian Diaspora, Jaipur: Rawat. Katrak, K. (1997), "South Asian American Literature", in King-Kok Cheung (Ed.) An Inter Ethnic Companion to Asian American Literatur, New York: CUP. Kirpal, V. (1989), The Third World Novel o/Expatriation, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Limited. Lahiri, J. (2004), The Namesake, New Delhi: Harper Collins. Mishra, D. (2007), "New Diasporic Voices in The Inheritance of Loss", 'Prajna ' Journal 0/ Humanities, Social Sciences and Business Administration, S Pal, A. and T. Chakrabarti (Eds.) (2004), Theorizing and Critiquing Indian Diaspora, New Delhi: Creative. Paranjape, M. (Ed.) (2001), Indian Diaspora: Theories, Text, Histories. Delhi: Indianlog Publication Pvt PBS (2008), Online news hour, 25 July 2008. Source: http://www.pbs.org/newshour.com Ray, Mohit (Ed.) (2004), Studies in Literature in English