- by Dr Shrimoyee Chattopadhyay (University of Debrecen)
Cultural displacement plays a significant role in the lives of diasporic people. As the diasporic people migrate, they redefine their identities in the host land. I argue that displacement of South Asian diasporic characters, especially the female protagonists portrayed in my selected literary narratives, acts as an escape mechanism from their traumatic experiences in their home countries. These traumas can be both individual and collective. Relying on Cathy Caruth’s notion of trauma as an “unclaimed experience” (Caruth 4) my research will analyse how unacknowledged traumatic events haunt the protagonists even when they are away from their homeland. As Caruth’s trauma theory is Westocentric, I will use the theories of Jeffrey Alexander and Stef Craps to explore the non-Western trauma. Finally, my project will probe into the intergenerational trauma which I will analyse drawing from the theories of Ana Dragojlovic and Angela Connolly. Both Dragojlovic and Connolly argue that Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake traumatic experiences are transmitted from the ancestors to their children. To investigate the above mentioned issues I will look into the works of contemporary diasporic writers, for instance, Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake (2003) and Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (2003).
Dr Shrimoyee Chattopadhyay has completed her PhD from the British Studies programme at the Doctoral School of Literary and Cultural Studies, University of Debrecen, Hungary. She does research in contemporary South Asian diasporic fiction and film, but her interests include gender studies, urban studies, food culture, memory, and trauma studies. Currently, she is working with the literary and cinematic texts of contemporary diaspora female writers and film directors, such as Jhumpa Lahiri, Monica Ali, Bharati Mukherjee, Chitra Divakaruni, Kamila Shamsie, Fatima Bhutto, Tahmima Anam, Sorayya Khan, and Gurinder Chadha. Her main focus lies in the interconnectedness of gender, city space, and memory studies. She has presented her research papers in esteemed universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, among others. Her scholarly articles have been published in several national and international journals.
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