Open AccessThe Namesake: A Study of Cultural Dissonance
Author(s) -
Manish Kumar Ishan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
smart moves journal ijellh
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2582-4406
pISSN - 2582-3574
DOI - 10.24113/ijellh.v8i4.10536
Subject(s) - cognitive dissonance , dilemma , narrative , feeling , homeland , cultural identity , identity (music) , aesthetics , sociology , immigration , gender studies , acculturation , ethnic group , history , social psychology , psychology , art , anthropology , political science , literature , politics , archaeology , epistemology , philosophy , law
The proposed research article is an attempt to make an analysis of the causes of cultural dissonance in the Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake. Cultural conflict has been a constant motif of Indian diasporic writers, presented by Lahiri in the form of Immigrant’s experience, in evocative manner. It is observed that for immigrants, the challenges of exile, feeling of displacement and longing for homeland and desire for acquiring identity in a new world is more explicit and distressing than for their offspring. The Namesake is basically a narrative of Indian Bengali family who comes to America for better future prospects; it discusses dilemma of cultural clash and identity in an alien land.