From Nostalgia to Negotiation:
Identity Formation in Divakaruni’s Diaspora Fiction
Sumit Kumar Misra¹ and Dr. Upasana
Bharati²
ABSTRACT
This paper examines how Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
presents the struggle in shaping the identity in her novels ‘Before
We Visit the Goddess’ and ‘Oleander Girl’. Her narratives often deal
with the difficulties and challenges of displacement, adapting new
culture, and making balance between present and past. The paper
examines how experiences of migration, bond with native land,
nostalgia, cultural differences, adaptation, and search for
belonging form identities of the characters, and how they maintain
connectivity with their family, native land, culture, and traditions
whereas they also face challenges living in multicultural
environment. The study argues that identity is flexible and
evolving, it changes through relationships, cultural interactions,
and personal experiences. Nostalgia connects people to their roots
while they grow, survive, and find new feelings of belonging in the
alien land through negotiation. The study also examines how family,
gender, multicultural society, and shared memories influence the
identity formation. The perspectives of Staurt Hall, Homi K. Bhabha,
and Avtar Brah have been used to investigate how the characters
shape their identities living in multicultural environment. A
qualitative approach has been used in the study that is basis on
close reading, and thematic analysis.
Key Words: Diaspora, Identity, Migration, Nostalgia, Alien land,
Adaptation, Belonging, Multiculturalism, Cultural Interaction,
Negotiation.
