The IUP Journal of English Studies
Quest for Empowerment and Assimilation: Images of Diaspora in Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine
Article Details
| Pub. Date | : June, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Product Name | : The IUP Journal of English Studies |
| Product Type | : Article |
| Product Code | : IJES32020 |
| Author Name | : Yeddu Vijaya Babu |
| Availability | : YES |
| Subject/Domain | : Arts & Humanities |
| Download Format | : PDF Format |
| No. of Pages | : 05 |
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Abstract
In recent times, postcolonial diaspora writing is principally concerned with themes such as marginalization, resistance, racism, ethnicity, adaptability, and self-independence. In the novel Jasmine, Bharati Mukherjee showcases the problems of women, particularly those related to cross-cultural crisis and quest for identity. Themes such as expatriate sensibility, the unresolved dilemma of modern women, and immigrants? admiration for Americanness find expression in the novel. This paper explores expatriatehood as a metaphysical experience of exile and the manifestations of diaspora by probing the protagonist's search for identity and transformation in Jasmine.
Introduction
The word ?diaspora? is used now ?to signify a more general sense of displacement as well
as a challenge to the limits of existing boundaries? (Mitchell 1997, 259). Bharati Mukherjee?s
novel Jasmine is an example. Jasmine?s search for self-independence in the novel begins
on her reaching American soil. Her persistent struggle to achieve self-independence, not to
be an Indian or American but to be at peace, offers broad diasporic glimpses.
Born during a period of transition and being a sensitive observer of the prevailing sociopolitical
conditions, Mukherjee understands immigrant issues. Her vivid portrayal of Jasmine highlights
two different cultures and the concept of ?New Woman?: ?the emotional segregation of
women and men, which brought about and led to the development of a specifically female
world? (Gupta 2000, 154). In Jasmine?s words, ?I shuttled between identities? (Mukherjee
1990, 77).1 And her identity reflects her two worlds: both India and America.
Keywords
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