Literary Criticism-2, Western poetics = Term "DIASPORA"

TO EVALUATE MY ASSIGNMENT CLICK HERE. 

Ø Prepared by     : KAVITABA P. GOHIL

Ø Roll No                : 19

Ø Paper – 7           : LITERARY THEORY& CRITICISM-2

Ø TOPIC: DIASPORA- special reference with Indian female Diaspora literature. 

Ø M.A (English)   :  Sem -2

Ø Enrollment No: 2069108420180018

Ø Batch                   :  2017-19

Ø Email                   : kavitabaprahaladsinhjigohil@gmail.com

Ø Submitted to   :  Smt .S. B Gardi, Department of English, MKBU. 

DIASPORA: special reference with Indian female Diaspora literature. 

Ø Preface:

The term Diaspora is derived from Greek; it means “I SCATTER” or “I SPREAD ABOUT”. A Diaspora is a scattered population whose origin lies in a separate geographic locale. It is a group of people who are living away from their original homeland and share common experiences. Immigrants, the people who come to live permanently in a foreign land play a significant role in this process of nation. The sense of yearning for the motherland is the most overwhelming sentiment of the Indian Diaspora, wherever it exists. When travel was hazardous and unusual, the yearning was intense, as they knew well that they would never return home. Though the age of technological advancement has made travelling easier and the distance shorter, their imagination continued to nurse the feeling of inadequacy in being away in a distant land. (Sreenivasan)

Inspired by the vast spread of migration, immigration or emigration, diasporic literature gained prominence in universal literature in a backdrop of post-colonial context, simultaneously developing with post-colonial literature. Diasporic literatures focuses mainly on themes like discrimination, cultural shock and reverse cultural shock, problems in adjustment and assimilation, orientalism, identity crisis, alienation and displacement, dilemma, depression, hybridity and generational gap. (Hirimuthugoda)

The new diaspora, unlike the earlier immigrants who are taken for the purpose of labour by the colonies; scattered example of east-west encounters have occurred in Indian fiction in English earlier novels like G.V. Desani’s –All about H.Hatter which published in 1948 and Ved Mehta’s – Delinquent Chacha, which published in 1969 but these novels really don’t touch upon the pains of displacement and dislocation. India’s first novels in English which actually concerns with the frustration and loneliness of life of immigrants in unfamiliar, unknown, inhospitable environment, name of the book is Bharati Mukherjee’s –WIFE 1975; and also Kamala Markandaya’s – The Nowhere Man which published in 1972 both created epic development in Indian Diaspora literature though the establishment of diasporic Indian English literature became new genre from 1980s. (Hirimuthugoda)

Writers of diasporic Indian English literature can be divided into two categories: first generation immigrants and second generation immigrants. First generation immigrant writers become representatives of immigrants who have lived a considerable period of time in their motherland and now are trying to adapt into new contexts after immigration whereas second generation immigrant writers represent the descendants of first generation immigrants. Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie, Kamala Markandaya, Bharati Mukherjee, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Vikram Seth, Meena Alexander, Sunetra Gupta, Aravind Aditya, Vikram Chandra, Neel Mukherjee, Hari Kunzru, Thrity Umrigar,Sameena Ali, Kalyan Rai, Raja Rao, Anurag Mathur are some of the prominent writers of diasporic Indian English literature. It is considered that the portrayal of Indian immigrants in fiction written by diasporic female Indian writers has more subtlety and sensibility. As mentioned by Ashalata Kulakarani, Latha Rengachari in her article Debating Expatriate woman’s Writing has said,

“In their aim at self-definition and the expression of their expatriate experiences, women from 1970s onwards chose to use literature. Literature became a means of establishing autonomous selfhood. Third world women sought to find words and forms to fit their experiences and have chosen narrative strategies like the autobiography and the quest novel to do so. They use the auto-biography to give shape to an identity grounded in these diverse experiences of expatriation and self-definition.” (Hirimuthugoda)

 Thus it is evident that there is a significant role of female writers in diasporic Indian English fiction which is enriched with experiences and mentalities of Indian diaspora. (Hirimuthugoda)

Ø     Female writers:

1] KAMALA MARKANDAYA-

She is considered among the first few female diasporic Indian writers, she herself born in Maisoor and in 1924 she migrated to England, in her first and most important novel named -The Nowhere Man, she perfectly depicted dilemma or melancholy in his mind because he neither accepted by India nor accepted by England as his own homeland and by these novel she represented her own situation and discrimination of her own life.

2] ANITA DESAI:

She is another powerful diasporic writer of the period, who was born in Dehradun in 1937 and migrated to England and then America respectively. Her novel –BYE BYE BLACK BIRD-1971, reflects conflict between the search of identity in another land, which is not her; it also carries new view point about young immigrants, aspects of discrimination, cultural conflict, disappointment and isolation.

3] BHARATI MUKHERJEE:

Another famous diasporic female writer who was born in 1940 in Kolkata and then migrated to America. Her novel WIFE, which published in 1975 reflects transformation in behaviour and identity from conventional Indian wife to murderer of her husband, her fantasies about high standard in American society and American life, she became victim of mental trauma, which leads her to commit the murder. In contrast to her novel Wife, the naive, dependent female protagonist of her novel Jasmin wisely uplifts herself to be an independent.

4] JHUMPA LAHIRI:

She is a second generation Indian American who was born in London, 1967. Her parents were immigrants from the state of West Bengal, India. Her award-winning novel The Namesake (2004) is considered to be one of the best fictions written about immigrant life. In this novel, Lahiri has successfully engaged aspects like the generational gap between first and second generation immigrants, conflict of east-west beliefs, cultural displacement, nostalgia, loss of identity, alienation and despair. The movie which was adopted by this novel too gained much attention worldwide. (Hirimuthugoda)

5] CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI:

Born in Kolkata in 1956, she immigrated to America and came into spotlight as a female writer in diasporic Indian English literature. Her award-winning novel The Mistress of Spices (1997) portrays an Indian girl who works in a spice shop in Oakland, America and helps other immigrants to resolve their problems with the magic of her spices. Thus Divakaruni has flourished her novel with the elements of magic realism. It was also adopted into a movie of the same name. (Hirimuthugoda)

6] KIRAN DESAI:

 she is daughter of Anita Desai is also a famous writer in diasporic Indian English literature. She was born in Chandigarh on 3rd September, 1971. She immigrated to England and then to America with her mother, who inspired her towards literature. Kiran Desai in her second novel -The Inheritance of Loss (2006), subtly portrays the life struggles of Indian diaspora as well as the aspects of globalization, racial intolerance, terrorism and multi-cultural societies. This novel brought her much credit through awards like ‘National Book Critics Circle Award’ and ‘Booker Prize’, making her the youngest female recipient of ‘Booker Prize’ so far. (Hirimuthugoda)

7] MEENA ALEXENDER:

She was born in 1951 in Illahabad and later she immigrated to Sudan and then to America. Her novel Manhattan Music (1997) is set on Manhattan as well as on India. There she has portrayed the immigrant life, identity crisis, racial intolerance, international affairs and marriages in a sensitive style of writing. (Hirimuthugoda)

8] SUNETRA GUPTA:

 The female protagonist of her novel Memories of Rain (1992) immigrates to England after falling in love with a British man but she soon realises the true nature of her husband. Disappointed by his rude, mean behaviour, she returns India with her children. Gupta’s novel A Sin of Colour (1998) too portrays the dilemma and isolation faced by Indian immigrants amidst the complexities of a new context. Sunetra Gupta is an Indian immigrant herself who was born in 1965 in Kolkata and later immigrated to England. (Hirimuthugoda)

Ø     Conclusion:

To sum up, this topic we can say that Indian female writer played very vital role in Diasporic Indian English literature, the reflectively represents situations, circumstances, mindset of people and psychological as well as economical condition of Indian diasporic. But that is not conclusion we have to think further. What is condition of natives of any countries, what they have to face because of these immigrants? How they feel? What is their mental situation or what is their psychological condition? 

Bibliography

CHAPTER II -- INDIAN DIASPORIC LITERATURE IN ENGLISH . 4 april 2018 <http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/85357/8/08_chapter2.pdf>.

Hirimuthugoda, Hasara Dasuni. "Diasporic Female Indian Writers in Diasporic." Prabha 2015: 134-148.

Sreenivasan, TP. "INDIAN DIASPORA AND ITS LITERARY EXPRESSION ." 1 April 2017. ONMANORAMA. 4 April 2018 <https://english.manoramaonline.com/news/columns/global-indian/2017/04/01/india-diaspora-literary-expressions-t-p-sreenivasan.html>.