From Nostalgia to Negotiation: Identity Formation in Divakaruni’s Diaspora Fiction

Sumit Kumar Misra; Upasana Bharati

Article Details

From Nostalgia to Negotiation: Identity Formation in Divakaruni’s Diaspora Fiction

Authors:

Sumit Kumar Misra | Upasana Bharati

Publisher:

SKY Publications

Journal:

International Journal of English Language, Literature and Translation Studies Vol.13 Issue 3, pp.74-83

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

1/2026

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001928132

pISSN:

2395-2628

Keywords:

Abstract:

 This paper examines how Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni presents the struggle in shaping the identity in her novels ‘Before We Visit the Goddess’ and ‘Oleander Girl’. Her narratives often deal with the difficulties and challenges of displacement, adapting new culture, and making balance between present and past. The paper examines how experiences of migration, bond with native land, nostalgia, cultural differences, adaptation, and search for belonging form identities of the characters, and how they maintain connectivity with their family, native land, culture, and traditions whereas they also face challenges living in multicultural environment. The study argues that identity is flexible and evolving, it changes through relationships, cultural interactions, and personal experiences. Nostalgia connects people to their roots while they grow, survive, and find new feelings of belonging in the alien land through negotiation. The study also examines how family, gender, multicultural society, and shared memories influence the identity formation. The perspectives of Staurt Hall, Homi K. Bhabha, and Avtar Brah have been used to investigate how the characters shape their identities living in multicultural environment. A qualitative approach has been used in the study that is basis on close reading, and thematic analysis.

Article Details

From Nostalgia to Negotiation: Identity Formation in Divakaruni’s Diaspora Fiction

Authors:

Sumit Kumar Misra | Upasana Bharati

Publisher:

SKY Publications

Journal:

International Journal of English Language, Literature and Translation Studies Vol.13 Issue 3, pp.74-83

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

1/2026

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001928132

pISSN:

2395-2628

Diaspora

Identity

Migration

Nostalgia

Alien land

Adaptation

Belonging

Multiculturalism

Cultural Interaction

Negotiation. PDF Journal categories

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Sumit Kumar Misra | Upasana Bharati

Publisher: SKY Publications

Journal: International Journal of English Language, Literature and Translation Studies Vol.13 Issue 3, pp.74-83

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 1/2026

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2001928132

pISSN: 2395-2628

Issues

Authors:

Sumit Kumar Misra | Upasana Bharati

Publisher:

SKY Publications

Journal:

International Journal of English Language, Literature and Translation Studies Vol.13 Issue 3, pp.74-83

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

1/2026

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001928132

pISSN:

2395-2628