Diaspora Literature: Definition and Features II Diaspora Major Writers and Works II Diaspora Theory

 

DIASPORA LITERATURE

The term “Diaspora” comes from the Greek word which means “scattering”. In literature this term refers to the dispersion of a people from their homeland. A simple definition of Diaspora literature, then, would be works that are written by authors who live outside their native land. Diaspora literature means the literature written by the authors who have left their native countries and have faced several challenges – social, economical, cultural – and they express their thoughts and feelings living in a foreign land. Meena Alexander defines it as “writing in search of homeland.”

TYPES OF DIASPORA:

There are basically two kinds of Diaspora: forced and voluntary. Forced Diaspora often arises from traumatic events such as wars, imperialistic conquest, or enslavement, or from natural disasters like famine or extended drought. As a result, the people of a forced Diaspora usually express feelings of persecution, loss, and desire to return to their homeland.

But voluntary Diaspora literature is the literature written by a community of people who have left their homelands in search of economic opportunity. Such authors voluntarily leave their home land and express their thoughts on how they cope up with the new society, new culture and new regions.

FEATURES OF DIASPORA LITERATURE:

1.   Sense of Alienation

2.   Sense of Loss of language, culture, religion etc.

3.   Conflict Between Cultures

4.   Conflict Between Religions

5.   Search of Identity

6.   Nostalgia (looking back)

 

MAJOR INDIAN DIASPORA WRITERS:
V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, M. G. Vassanji, Shani Mootoo, Bharati Mukherjee, David Dabydeen, Rohinton Mistry , Hanif Kureishi, Jhumpa Lahiri etc.

DIASPORA EXAMPLES:
Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses (1988) ,The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999), Grimus (1974), Midnight‘s Children (1981),

Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Interpreter of Maladies (1999)

Conclusion
Diaspora, is therefore, a scattering of the seed in the wind, the fruits of which are a new creation and a fight to survive. Diaspora is a journey towards self-realization, self-recognition, self-knowledge and self-identity.

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