Isolation and Community
ISOLATION AND COMMUNITY IN SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS BY JHUMPA LAHIRI
“As is frequently the case with immigrants in general, the Diaspora is also keen on taking pride- some self respect and dignity- in the culture and tradition of the original homeland. This frequently takes the form of some kind of ‘national’ or civilization appreciation of being an Indian in origin.” Amartya Sen In the Argumentative Indian.
While Indian writers have been making a significant contribution to the world literature since Independence, the past few years saw a massive flourishing of Indian fiction in the global market. Though the writers vary in style yet there is a common thread binding them together- The sense of exile and alienation. The recent literature of emigration and exile is forged by perspectives that emerge from at least two cultures, identities and in some cases, languages. The themes in migrant literature however vary, depending not only on the country of origin but also on the pattern of the migration itself. The attention of the first generation migrant literature is often directed at the act of migration, the passage to another land, the reception in the emigration country, issues of rootlessness and racism, nostalgia and longing. While some of these issues do crop up in second generation migrant writing, it does so often in much more morally complex way. Affiliations are more ambivalent, there is a recognition that global uprootedness is a global phenomenon and the focus is not on the country of origin or arrival, but in the community that does not fully belong to either.
Jhumpa Lahiri has expressed this sense of feeling in exile more than once. Her first book of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, earned her critical notice as well as popular acclaim, not to speak of string of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000. What sets Lahiri apart is the combination of her absorbing concern for the moral and
“As is frequently the case with immigrants in general, the Diaspora is also keen on taking pride- some self respect and dignity- in the culture and tradition of the original homeland. This frequently takes the form of some kind of ‘national’ or civilization appreciation of being an Indian in origin.” Amartya Sen In the Argumentative Indian.
While Indian writers have been making a significant contribution to the world literature since Independence, the past few years saw a massive flourishing of Indian fiction in the global market. Though the writers vary in style yet there is a common thread binding them together- The sense of exile and alienation. The recent literature of emigration and exile is forged by perspectives that emerge from at least two cultures, identities and in some cases, languages. The themes in migrant literature however vary, depending not only on the country of origin but also on the pattern of the migration itself. The attention of the first generation migrant literature is often directed at the act of migration, the passage to another land, the reception in the emigration country, issues of rootlessness and racism, nostalgia and longing. While some of these issues do crop up in second generation migrant writing, it does so often in much more morally complex way. Affiliations are more ambivalent, there is a recognition that global uprootedness is a global phenomenon and the focus is not on the country of origin or arrival, but in the community that does not fully belong to either.
Jhumpa Lahiri has expressed this sense of feeling in exile more than once. Her first book of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, earned her critical notice as well as popular acclaim, not to speak of string of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000. What sets Lahiri apart is the combination of her absorbing concern for the moral and
References: 1. Lahiri, Jhumpa, (2000). Interpreter of Maladies. Harper Collins Publishers India. 2. Nayar, Aruti in her review of The Interpreter of Maladies. 3. A review by Subhamoy Das titled: A Hindu Family’s American Journey. 4. Hajari, Nisid: The Promising Land, Times International 5. Mehta, Kamal, The Twentieth Century, Indian Short Story in English, Creative Blocks New Delhi 6. Lahiri, Jhumpa: in an interview with Elizabeth Farnsworth on PBS.org in The News Hour on April 12th, 2000 7. Kakutani, Michiko’s review of Interpreter of Maladies in The New York Times