CULTURAL AMALGAMATION: A DIASPORIC STUDY ON JHUMPA LAHIRI’S INTERPRETER OF MALADIES

Abstract

Jhumpa Lahiri is an English- born American novelist, essayist and short story writer having Indian origins. She is an award-winning author whose work has entranced the readers around the world. Born on July 11, in London in the year 1967. Lahiri grew up in the United States and India, and her writing mirrored her experiences as a member of the Indian diaspora. She is known for her impressive and powerful depiction of characters who are caught between cultures and languages, struggling to find their place in the world. Her work has been applauded for its emotional depth, literary skills and refined the understanding of the intricacies of human experiences. By portraying issues such as marginalization, multiculturalism, conflict of race and dislocation, diasporic writings plays a vital role in the literary field. It is also known as 'immigrant writings ' hence it gives voice to the traumatic experiences of the writers as a result of identity crisis, alienation,clash of culture they are subjected to. Being a diasporic writer, her works focused on the themes such as identity crisis , nostalgia, alienation , rootlessness and frustration. Diaspora is a term that encircles cultural and emotional conflicts. Nationality and nativity contradict each other in the diasporic context. Nativity is an Innate emotional bonding that creates a sense of belongingness, while nationality limits itself to the physical presence