A Study of the Shift in Diasporic Experience from the First Generation to the Second Generation in The Namesake and Unaccustomed Earth

Dr Rajesh Verma; Tshewang Lhamo

Dr Rajesh Verma
Tshewang Lhamo

Abstract

Jhumpa Lahiri’s two novels The Namesake and Unaccustomed Earth deal with the themes of exile, alienation, separation, home and family, assimilation and reintegration in the lives of immigrants. This research paper explores a comparative study of the diaspora of the first and second Indo-American generations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake and Unaccustomed Earth. This paper also studies the shift from the first-generation diasporic feelings to the second-generation diasporic feelings due to the advent of sophisticated means of communication and technology. The present paper, through the close textual analysis studies the change in the outlook and insight towards the host culture and the native culture from the perspective of the first and second-generation diasporic characters from these two novels. The themes of dislocation in the lives of immigrants have also been explored.

Keywords: Diasporic psychology, cultural alienation, identity crises, exile literature, The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri.

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Author Biographies

Dr Rajesh Verma

Dr Rajesh Verma (Ph.D) is a Colombo Plan Lecturer, at Yonphula Centenary College, Royal University of Bhutan.

Tshewang Lhamo

Tshewang Lhamo is a shcool teacher at Gedu HSS, Bongo, Chukha, Bhutan.

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