A Diaspora Study of Kiran Desai’s Inheritance of Loss (Published)
In the postmodern age, under the effect of rapid means of communication and transportation, migration occurs and it has given rise to mutations in diasporic self. Ultimately, diasporic conflicting identity has become at the stake and diasporas often become an irreversible historical entity that leads to them towards home and homing desire. This paper explores the split identities of Indian-American diaspora in Desai’s prestigious novel, Inheritance of Loss (2006). It also underpins how troubled relationship between the first and second generation of immigrants have impacted their dispersed identity. It also unearths the lives of immigrants, their pungent diasporic experience with split identity and its fragmentations; and then their inevitable survival in the migrated locations. The paper practices diaspora theory to analyze the novel through the model of Avtar Brah as a theoretical framework that is drawn according to the research methodology.
Keywords: Diasporas, Home, Migration, diasporic self, homing desire, split identity
An Unquenchable Search for Home and Identity in Keija Parssinen’s The Ruins of Us (2012) (Published)
Home and identity are challenging words to define. Many fields such as psychology, sociology, philosophy, history, literature, and political science have tried to provide an understanding of these two words. This paper is an attempt to examine these two concepts in addition to applying Eugenia Scabini and Claudia Manzi’s concept of ‘family identity’ to Keija Parssinen’s The Ruins of Us (2012). Parssinen is a third-generation expatriate who was born in Saudi Arabia. Her novel is about an American woman, Rosalie, who has decided to give up her life in America and marry a Saudi man, Abdullah, and move to Saudi Arabia as an attempt to belong. They enjoy a happy life for many years, despite cultural differences, and have two children, Faisal and Mariam. Suddenly, the idea of a cozy home is shattered as Abdullah takes a second wife. The disintegration of this family influences its identity development.
Keywords: Home, Identity, family identity, identity development