This paper attempts to study the diasporic dimension of Indian diasporic writer late Aga Shahid Ali who emigrated from Kashmir to America. Aga Shahid Ali narrates the loss of his homeland due to enforced migration and rexhibit the original exilic resonance of diasporic experience. In his poetic collection ‘the country without a post office’, the poet articulates diasporic experience of exile, loss, pain and creates possibilities of Kashmiri diaspora in America.
Key words: Aga Shahid Ali, The country without a post office, Diaspora.
Diaspora:-
Exile or Diaspora is a broad theme and has been widely discussed in literature. Indeed, William Safran calls it an academic growth industry. In the context of literature, the theme of exile is often marked by a divided loyalty towards both the host country and the homeland. Many theorist believe that through physical spacing can be necessary to produce a sense of homelessness and nostalgia, yet one does not need to be physically removed from the homeland in order to be exiled; one may feel exiled in one’s land if it is felt that indigenous culture has been attenuated by foreign influence Edward Said opines, ‘Exile is fundamentally tied to the notion of intellection. It refers to those who are resistant to set notions as against those who conform. Basically the term Diaspora refers to the work of exiles and expatriates and all those who have experienced unsettlement and dislocation at the political, existential or metaphorical levels and Diaspora literature involves an idea of a homeland, a place from where the displacement occurs. Avatar Brah writes that the term Diaspora, embodies a notion of centre, a locus, a home from which the dispersion occurs. In fact, at the heart of the notion of...
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...ake homology to a supposed new home .He recollects several traditional customs , ceremonies as well as images of childhood and boyhood .These memories kept so much imposing themselves on his inner thinking that he attempted to reconstruct them in his verses using English language so that he could make a bond between two worlds.
Works Cited
1) Brah, Avtar, “Thinking through the conflict of Diaspora”. The post colonial studies Reades, Routlodge 2006. Pp. 443-446.
2) Clifford, James, “Diasporas”, The post colonial studies Reader 2nd London: Routledge, 2006. Pp. 451-454.
3) Gama Linda, Eric, “Aga Shahid Ali (1949-2001) on love, Death and poetry”, Poets and writers Magazine, April 2002.
4) Kind Bruce, “The Diaspora: Aga Shahid Ali’s tricultural Nostralgia”. Modern India Poetry in English, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001.
In Brent Hayes Edwards essay, “ The Use of Diaspora”, the term “African Diaspora” is critically explored for its intellectual history of the word. Edward’s reason for investigating the “intellectual history of the term” rather than a general history is because the term “is taken up at a particular conjecture in black scholarly discourse to do a particular kind of epistemological work” (Edwards 9). At the beginning of his essay Edwards mentions the problem with the term, in terms of how it is loosely it is being used which he brings confusion to many scholars. As an intellectual Edwards understands “the confusing multiplicity” the term has been associated with by the works of other intellectuals who either used the coined or used the term African diaspora. As an articulate scholar, Edwards hopes to “excavate a historicized and politicized sense of diaspora” through his own work in which he focuses “on a black cultural politics in the interwar, particularly in the transnational circuits of exchange between the Harlem Renaissance and pre-Negritude Fran cophone activity in the France and West Africa”(8). Throughout his essay Edwards logically attacks the problem giving an informative insight of the works that other scholars have contributed to the term Edwards traces back to the intellectual history of the African diaspora in an eloquent manner.
Hall, S. (1995). Diasporas. from "routes" to roots (pp. 427-428). new york: oxford university press.
In the two books that we have read this year there has been one common theme, exile. In The Book Thief and in A Handmaid’s Tale, important characters were exiled. For example in The Book Thief, Max was exiled from his country, and in A Handmaid’s Tale, Offred was exiled from the government. The character’s experiences with exile were both alienating and enriching, because they were both of them went through times when they felt out of place and times when they were enhancing their life. The character’s experiences were both similar in the way that they were both exiled by a larger power, such as the government of the country that they live in. But they were also very different because in Max’s situation it was life or death, and in Offred’s situation she had a required place to be, she was going to live. Also the experiences of Max and Offred shed a light on their books, because it gave a different meaning behind them something deeper that was not shown on the surface of the pages. Lastly, from the beginning of the books to the end, Max and Offred’s home place changed, and the home in the beginning became an other place to them.
...own unless they are remembered, until they are brought back into waking life and understood by the individual as memories, separated from the present. “Thus they lead one to cultural travel, to reminisce the culture of origin, the displaced space and time. They help soothe the pains of loneliness, thereby giving succor to survive in an alien land. Secondly, to survive in the foreign land the expatriates create an ambience there by establishing their own ghetto, celebrating their festivals, dining together or holding community feasts, sharing cultural markers, frequenting to the house of their colour and little socializing with the dominant group. Thus they create an ‘alternative world’ in their present world. These expatriates ignore the subtle desire to merge among the majority, oppose the willingness of their children to a just to and accept the dominate culture.
The negation of the Diaspora has a mythical character, which functions to legitimize social and political practices and mobilize action and identification with a cause. Gordon establishes this myth of identity through anchoring of the present in the diasporic past and actualization of the diasporic past in the present in the Yishuv.
Knott , Kim, and Seán McLoughlin, eds. Diasporas Concepts, Intersections, Identities. New York : Zed Books, 2010. Print.
While the concept of an “African diaspora,” or African dispersion, has been gaining popularity over the years, there is not a comprehensive definition of the term, which is the main argument of “Defining and Studying the Modern African Diaspora.” Palmer organizes the major African diasporas into two categories based on their time and characteristics. Starting 100,000 years ago and concluding in the 19th century, the pre-modern diasporas differed from the modern diasporas in the existence or “racial” oppression and resistance.2 Palmer writes, “The modern African diaspora, at its core, consists of the millions of peoples of African descent living in various societies who are united by a past
This research study focuses at negotiating the shifting identities of immigrants and their traumas in postcolonial literature with reference to Lahiri’s fiction. The suffering of every immigrant in achieving a shelter and identity in a foreign land often leads to loss of identity. The qualms, agitation and nervousness of immigrants often increase the issues of identity, and immigrants often feel alienated in the midst of exotic land, they even start to think about achieving new identities. Stuart Hall (1987) a famous cultural theorist discusses the issues of cultural identity and migration as he says “Migration is a one way trip. There is no “home” to go back to”. Change in the place and ambience totally change the circumstances in the lives of immigrants in Lahiri’s fiction, they often try to cling to their own cultural identity and costumes. But the cultural effect is often so strong that it deeply affects the identity of immigrants and they ultimately try to change their identities. Immigrants make an absurd attempt to get mingled in the culture of foreign country. Hall discusses “Cultural identities are those which are constantly producing and reproducing themselves anew, through transformation and difference” (235).
Asani, Ali. “In Praise of Muhammad: Sindhi and Urdu Poems.” Religions of India in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
“Exile originated in the age old practice of banishment. Once banished, the exile lives an anomalous and miserable life, with the stigma of an outsider”2 said Edward Said. Adorno in the 13th terse “Protection, Help and Counsel” of Minima Moralia asserts that, “every intellectual in emigration is without exception, damaged and does well to acknowledge it to himself… He lives in an environment that must remain incomprehensible to him… Relation between outcasts are even more poisoned than between long standing residents.”3 Adorno’s reflection epitomizes the common understanding of exilic experience as one of trauma, estrangement and paranoia. Numerous autobiographical accounts confirm this devastating assessment a...
Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children employs strategies which engage in an exploration of History, Nationalism and Hybridity. This essay will examine three passages from the novel which demonstrate these issues. Furthermore, it will explore why each passage is a good demonstration of these issues, how these issues apply to India in the novel, and how the novel critiques these concepts.
The question of the racial, religious, and socioeconomic identity of Shahid becomes a central question posed as Shahid undergoes translation from his Pakistani ancestry to his desired identity as a Briton. Shahid's translation parallels the translations of the former Asian colonies of Britain into their new postcolonial identities. Unfortunately for Shahid, the struggle over The Satanic Verses catches him as he is translating himself, presenting him with a series of tough choices.
Poets shared their experience of the lives in poetic verses. For this reason, history is full of the stories with passionate and deep love. The same idea was also the central point of one of the most famous poet of the history named Galib. He was a famous poet of the seventeenth century, and has several touching poetries in Urdu and Persian language on his credit. In his poetry, deep love seemed to be the main idea, but the true essence was the deep sorrow and a sad impression which made his poetry stands out among others. In his magnificent and truthful poetry, Ghalib unfolded the distinctive relation between the love and sorrow. He demonstrated this unique relation by sharing his personal stories, for example the love with the God, love and passion with the lover and with the love with his nephew. In these relations hopelessness, grief and depression was a common attitude which made his poetry exceptional.
The concept of orientalism refers to the western perceptions of the eastern cultures and social practices. It is a specific expose of the eurocentric universalism which takes for granted both, the superiority of what is European or western and the inferiority of what is not. Salman Rushdie's Booker of the Bookers prize winning novel Midnights Children is full of remarks and incidents that show the orientalist perception of India and its people. It is Rushdie's interpretation of a period of about 70 years in India's modern history dealing with the events leading to the partition and beyond. Rushdie is a fantasist and a creator of alternate realities, the poet and prophet of a generation born at the degree zero of national history. The present paper is an attempt to study how Salman Rushdie, being himself a writer of diasporic consciousness, sometimes perceives India and its people as orientalist stereotypes and presents them in a derogatory manner.
Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.