Hybridity of the Self Between Desh (Home) and Pardesh (Abroad)

This paper examines the formation of the self in the context of emigration and the Indian individual in the Anglo-American space, in the novels: Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. The analysis focuses on exploring the way in which the hyphenated self is constructed under the influences of dialogical negotiation of desh and pardesh in the context of racism, global-local (glocal) specificity, becoming authenic under the presure of home memory, diaspora ethnicity and mimicry. Is reterritorialization and acculturation successful for the hybrid self? The answers is to be found by the characters of the novels and shown in instances of self expression and integration. Arun, the Indian guy, from Anita Desai’s novel left India for studying in America. During the summer, he is accommodated to an American family. The clash between the two cultures, traditions, and customs is felt as a huge breakage, which leads to desintegration and alienation. Biju and Harish-Harry from Kiran Desai’s novel go to America for a better living, and they succeeed in finding a job at a bakery. The impact of racism is higher in the lower strata of the society, thus their chances to integration are lost; Biju decides to return home, while Harish-Harry ends in a hyphenated self and a dissatisfied living. In The Namesake, Ashoke and Ashima, the Indian emigrants husband and wife, experience a different reshaping of identity. Ashoke works as a university assistant, while Ashima is a housewife. For him, America is a space for affirmation and self-verification, while for his wife, the space becomes a ghetto where she feels lonely and marginalised. Therefore, in the formation of the self there are many coordinates which should be taken into consideration and above this, their impact over the immigrant is different from case to case depending on many factors.

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