HOW DISTINCT IS THE DIASPORIC LITERATURE?

 

A simple definition of diaspora literature, then, would be works that are written by authors who live outside their native land. The term identifies a work's distinctive geographic origins. But diaspora literature may also be defined by its contents, regardless of where it was written.

 It focuses on the lives of immigrants and their inner and external conflicts in an alien land. By highlighting issues like cultural predicament, quest for identity, multiculturalism and universal aspects of human existence, Diasporic Literature occupies an important status in the literary field.

 Immigrants, or those who move to another country to reside permanently, play an important role in this process. A diaspora is a group of people who live outside of their native country and have common experiences. The literary work produced by immigrants is referred to as diasporic literature or immigrant literature.

 The foremost characteristic features of diaspora writings involve the quest for identity, nostalgia, familial and marital relationships apart from re-rooting, uprooting, multi-cultural milieu etc.

 Diaspora theory focuses on “exiled” peoples and often examines inequalities between host, homeland, and diaspora group, contributing to its reputation as a more politically engaged approach to migration studies.

 In contemporary times, Diaspora refers to the people living away from their homeland due to various reasons. Hence, the meaning of Indian Diaspora is the group of people who are currently living outside India (temporary or permanent) and those who can trace their origin to India.

 Diaspora 1 was the migration of native speakers of English into countries such as America and Australia. These settlers brought their families over to the new countries, set up communities and became permanent residents of these lands. This resulted in the mother tongue varieties of English.

 Diasporas can play an important role in the economic development of their countries of origin. Beyond their well-known role as senders of remittances, Diasporas can also promote trade and foreign direct investment, create businesses and spur entrepreneurship, and transfer new knowledge and skills.

The various forms are: victim Diasporas, labour and imperial Diasporas, trade Diasporas, cultural Diasporas, global – deterritorialized Diasporas  retains a collective memory, vision, or myth about their original homeland-its physical location, history, and achievements and, often enough, sufferings.

 There are two main types of diasporas: voluntary (by one's own freewill) and involuntary (by force). Thus, the people of the diaspora are a kindred, either directly related or similar in their culture and ethnicity. The biggest modern diaspora is the voluntary.

 The chief characteristic features of the diasporic writings are the quest for identity, uprooting and re-rooting, insider and outsider syndrome, nostalgia, nagging sense of guilt etc. The diasporic writers turn to their homeland for various reasons.

 The term, 'diaspora' refers to the displacement of an individual, community or groups of people from the original homeland to an alien territory. It also connotes a cultural transition from pure roots to mixed customs in the adopted land.

 Bharati Mukherjee is an Indo American writer and professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

She is an established diasporic writer who has placed herself among the main stream American writers. She is a writer of Indian origin who presents Indians as protagonists in her fiction. Her novels generally narrate about Indian immigrants who struggle to settle in an alien country usually America.

 India Has the World's Biggest Diaspora.  The history of Indian diasporic writing is as old as the diaspora itself. Most of the Indian diaspora now settled in different countries found its inception in the form of indentured labour.

 English Indian writers such as Anita Desai, Bharati Mukherjee, Shauna Singh Baldwin, Amitav Ghosh, Anjana Appachana, Sunetra Gupta Anita Nair, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni have become prominent writers in the Indian diaspora writing tradition.

 Bharati Mukherjee, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni represent the first generation while, Jhumpa Lahiri and Kiran Desai represent second generation of diasporic writers.

 Two of the earliest novels that have successfully depicted diasporic Indian characters are Anita Desai's Bye-Bye Blackbird and Kamala Markandaya's The Nowhere Man. These novels depict how racial prejudice against Indians in the UK of the 1960s alienates the characters and aggravate their sense of displacement.

 The Namesake is an example of a diasporic novel since it follows the lives of an immigrant Indian American family.

 Diasporic literature has its roots in the sense of loss and alienation, which emerged as a result of migration and expatriation. Generally, diasporic literature deals with alienation, displacement, existential rootlessness, nostalgia, quest of identity.

 Which book you have enjoyed reading from Diasporic literature, Do share it in the comments.