Multiple Cultures and Genesis of Identity in Bharati Mukherjee’s The Holder of the World
Author(s)
Gunjan Gosain Oberoi , Dr. Jyoti Sharma ,
Download Full PDF Pages: 01-05 | Views: 641 | Downloads: 162 | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3442060
Abstract
Increasing economic globalization in recent times has lead to unrestricted and unparalleled movement of people and products from one corner of the globe to another, giving rise to metropolitan culture and troubled identities. However, this phenomenon is ages old. Man has been changing cities, countries and citizenships since ancient times either to satisfy his basic needs of food, clothing and shelter or to satisfy higher order needs of discovery, fame and riches. This commingling of people of varied cultures not only enhanced interaction and mutual co-operation between nations, it also lead to people harmonizing between their native culture and that of the new set-up. The people thus caught between push and pull of contrasting cultures, suffering with feelings of alienation, despair and nostalgia in foreign lands came to be known as ‘Diaspora’. Bharati Mukherjee is one such well known novelist belonging to Indian diaspora who made her contemporaries envious in a comparatively short creative span. Her literary opus is manifested with her personal experiences and first hand knowledge of continents of birth and stay. This paper scrutinizes one of Mukherjee’s protagonists Hannah’s endeavors for genesis of identity in a cross-cultural scenario in The Holder of the World
Keywords
diverse, cultures, diaspora, endeavors, identity
References
- Joseph A. Cincotti, “Same trip, opposite direction.” New York Times Book Review 98, 10 Oct. 1993: 7.
- Chen, Tina and S.X. Goudie. "Holders of the Word: An Interview with Bharati Mukherjee." Jouvert 1.1 (1997): 104 pars. Online. Internet. 25 Dec. 2009.
- Nair, Hema. “A Puritan in a Mughal Court” The Toronto Review 12, 2 (Winter- Spring) 1994: 106.
- Mukherjee, Bharati. The Holder of the World. New York: Knopf, 1993.