Diasporic dis/location: a study of the themes of memory, home and homecoming in The Namesake, Desirable Daughters and Beloved Strangers: A Memoir

Abstract

This thesis investigates the themes of memory, home and homecoming in three novels The Namesake (2003) by Jhumpa Lahiri, Desirable Daughters (2002) by Bharati Mukherjee and Beloved Strangers: A Memoir (2014) by Maria Chaudhuri which fall in the category of diasporic literature. Diasporic novels primarily deal with issues of movement and (re)settlement from one’s original home to a new country. This movement may lead to reframe the issue of nostalgia and homecoming at an individual level. The diasporic fictions I have taken, provide an opportunity to explore these themes from the perspective of the characters who leave their own country and settle in a different country, creating a relationship between memory, present and their future. This thesis argues that the diasporic experiences and memories are embedded in people’s culture, background and surrounding. My choice of the novels The Namesake, Desirable Daughters and Beloved Strangers: A Memoir are mainly originated from South Asian concepts and engage us to the characters who deal with different experiences as people of diaspora. This paper starts with an introduction followed by two chapters and finally reaches to the conclusion. In my introduction, the term diaspora has been briefly discussed and then the two analysis chapters discuss memory, home and homecoming. Where memory can be metaphorical and make people of diaspora nostalgic, home has a fluid concept to them because home works as an unsettled place. The conclusion states how these diasporic themes work diversely in the life of the characters of the selected novels.