Struggle in Ethnic Existence: A Diasporic Study of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake

Abstract

Ethnic study has become an expression in the English Literature. Originally it stood for the Jews who dispersed from Israel/Palestine to all kinds of places in the world. Those people carried with them a profound attachment to their last place of residence. Tracing the various processes which Indian communities went through in different regions of the world as they dropped anchor in new lands and adjusted to their new surroundings, it is startling to see how they hold on to their identities as ethnic Indians while remaining loyal to their adopted cultures. Language and cultures are transformed as they come into contact with other languages and cultures. It becomes important to question the nature of one’s relationship with the culture of their origin and to examine the different strategies they adopt in order to negotiate the cultural space of the countries of their adoption. Expatriate occupies a significant position between cultures and countries. Cultures take root or get dislocated. Cultural theory is today being created by people who live on the margins. An important question is how does one define the margin? Do the margins experipheral areas further divide themselves and the centre remains the same, indifferent to what is happening around it. The migrant worker/scholar, who moves from one culture to another, needs to relocate himself/herself in relation to the centre. Sometimes it will even put the migrant in a schizophrenic situation, with regard to crossing from one culture to another. A good amount of instability is also involved at this point.