PINING FOR HOMELAND: AN ANALYSIS OF DIASPORIC SENSIBILITY IN JHUMPA LAHIRI’S THE LOWLAND

Abstract

Diaspora writing or expatriate writing is a vast concept that has high significance in contemporary literary arena. Diasporic literature has its roots in the sense of loss and alienation as a result of migration and expatriation. Generally, diasporic literature deals with alienation, displacement, existential rootlessness, nostalgia, quest for identity and disintegration of cultures. There were many writers who were able to depict the struggles encountered by the immigrants in their works thereby adding contribution to the field of diasporic literature. Jhumpa Lahiri is a significant writer in the field of diasporic literature who was able to chronicle the complexities of immigrant experiences in her works. Her works are often an insight into the troubles encountered by immigrants especially people from Indian community who struggles between the culture of their homeland and the culture of America. The Lowland is the second novel by Jhumpa Lahiri published in 2013 that depicts problems related with migration by interconnecting it with the strong brotherly bond shared by Udayan and Subash. This paper entitled Pining for Homeland: An analysis of Diasporic sensibility in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland traces the immigrant experiences of Subash and Gauri as part of a society that is entirely different from the culture in which they are born and brought up.