Caught Between Two Worlds: the Search for Cultural Identity in Lahiri's the Namesake
Caught between Two Worlds:
The Search for Cultural Identity in Lahiri’s The Namesake
Titien Diah Soelistyarini
Abstract
The question of identity is always a difficult one for those living in one culture, yet belonging to another. This question frequently lingers in the mind of most immigrants, especially the second generations who were born in a country other than their parents’ motherland. They feel culturally displaced as they are simultaneously living in two cultures. On the one hand, they no longer feel emotionally attached and cannot fully identify themselves with their indigenous culture; while on the other hand, when they wish to adopt the identity of the new culture, they have not been fully accepted as its members. Therefore, such condition makes them considered as having – as in Tyson’s terms – a double consciousness or double vision, a consciousness or a way of perceiving the world as divided between two antagonistic cultures. As they feel caught between two worlds, this double consciousness often produced an unstable sense of self or a crisis of cultural identities.
This study on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake published in 2003 observes the long journey of Indian American immigrants to search for cultural identity. It argues that this novel offers an insight on the struggles of the first-generation immigrants to assert a western identity, as well as to maintain rich eastern traditions. It also explores the challenges faced by the children, being second-generation immigrants, as represented by the main character, Gogol, who attempts to shed the Bengali identity to fully embody the American status. Yet, the journey towards re-invention and self-discovery finally teaches him the value of family, one’s roots and cultural pride. This study concludes that this novel reflects the experiences of many second-generation Asian immigrants who yearn to forge their own identity and feeling through negotiation of values from both the native (eastern)
The Search for Cultural Identity in Lahiri’s The Namesake
Titien Diah Soelistyarini
Abstract
The question of identity is always a difficult one for those living in one culture, yet belonging to another. This question frequently lingers in the mind of most immigrants, especially the second generations who were born in a country other than their parents’ motherland. They feel culturally displaced as they are simultaneously living in two cultures. On the one hand, they no longer feel emotionally attached and cannot fully identify themselves with their indigenous culture; while on the other hand, when they wish to adopt the identity of the new culture, they have not been fully accepted as its members. Therefore, such condition makes them considered as having – as in Tyson’s terms – a double consciousness or double vision, a consciousness or a way of perceiving the world as divided between two antagonistic cultures. As they feel caught between two worlds, this double consciousness often produced an unstable sense of self or a crisis of cultural identities.
This study on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake published in 2003 observes the long journey of Indian American immigrants to search for cultural identity. It argues that this novel offers an insight on the struggles of the first-generation immigrants to assert a western identity, as well as to maintain rich eastern traditions. It also explores the challenges faced by the children, being second-generation immigrants, as represented by the main character, Gogol, who attempts to shed the Bengali identity to fully embody the American status. Yet, the journey towards re-invention and self-discovery finally teaches him the value of family, one’s roots and cultural pride. This study concludes that this novel reflects the experiences of many second-generation Asian immigrants who yearn to forge their own identity and feeling through negotiation of values from both the native (eastern)
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