Identity and cultural conflicts in Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake
Keywords:
Namesake identity, cultural clash immigration, miniatureAbstract
Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake describes the struggles and hardships of a Bengali couple who immigrate to the United States to form a life outside of everything they are accustomed to. It explores the concepts of cultural identity, of rootlessness, of tradition and family expectations in a lucid and elegant prose. In her fiction, memory, nostalgia, loss and longing are some of the prominent themes. Her stories tell of people who have moved countries in the hope of a better life, but past remains there as a shadow to remind them of their original roots. This novel is a documentary of such experiences, a glowing miniature of a tiny family making the voyage between two worlds.
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