INDIAN DIASPORA Paige Woods Ms. Purvis IB English IV-1st B-day 16 March 2012 TERMS TO KNOW
Indian*: This word has many relative meanings but the appropriate meaning in this context is that of a native or inhabitant of India or of the East Indies. Diaspora*: Although this word refers to the movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland, it also involves the spread of those people’s culture and perspective. Non Resident Indian: Those of Indian origin who do not live in India.
*According to Merriam Webster dictionary
DEFINITION
The Indian Diaspora was therefore a spreading of the people and cultures of the subcontinent of India to places throughout the world. This presentation will discuss this movement through a literary focus, which means it will address the authors of this category and the reasons for its invention. BRITISH IMPERIALISM
The Indian Diaspora is directly attributed to British imperialism which lasted until 1947. The system of Indian indentured servitude used by the British would send people to places around the world. Places which included: Fiji South Africa Guyana Trinidad Surinam Malaysia Etc. BRITISH IMPERIALISM
When those indentured servants emigrated to various parts of the world, they brought their culture along with them. This then allowed their perspective to be shaped by there new surroundings. These Indians are now known as Non Resident Indians, who are those of Indian origin but do not live in India proper. In many literary works of Indian Diaspora writers, the perspective is tinged with that of someone commenting on the issues of Indians from an external vantage point.
WESTERNIZATION
The early interaction with the British government attributed to the Indian Diaspora literary movement but also became a central subject in these writers’ works. The negative effects of westernization are usually highlighted: The occupation of India by the British can be seen in both the God of Small Things and Shame. In God of Small Things, the entirety of the British government appears to be personified through the character of Mr. Hollick. His rape of the women is symbolic of the raping and pillaging of Indian society, natural environment, and culture by the British. POLITICS
Political shifts have become indicative of Indian politics ever since the subcontinent of India gained independence from Great Britain on August 14, 1947. The partitioning of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan is also a central issue in many of these author’s books. The instability of India and the Indian subcontinent would allow for these authors to make their own social commentary. RELIGION
Writers in of the Indian Diaspora movement, like most other writers, tend to discuss and critique religion. The religions range from Christianity to Islam to Hinduism to Sihkism. Such can be seen of the critique of Christianity in Arundhati Roy’s God of Small Things and the co- critique of Hinduism and Islam in Salman Rushdie’s Shame. LITERARY FEATURES
India is seen as the homeland and has traditional elements (free from westernization) mystified or idealized. Some type of journey is usually taken in the plot of the novel. There is usually a place in the novel that is a temporary home away from India that the characters reside. The protagonists of the story is usually an Indian placed into a foreign environment and must choose whether or not to accept or reject their Indian culture. EXAMPLES
Jhumpa Lahiri V.S. Naipaul
Salman Rushdie
Arundhati Roy JHUMPA LAHIRI
Origin Works
Born in London and Unaccustomed Earth raised in Rhode The Namesake Island. Interpreter of Maladies
The reactions haven't differed; the concerns have been different. When I read for a predominantly Indian audience, there are more questions that are based on issues of identity and representation. -Jhumpa Lahiri
V.S NAIPAUL
Origin Selected Works
Born to Indian The Mystic Masseur indentured servants The Suffrage of Elvira in Trinidad. Miguel Street A Flag on the Island Guerrillas Half of Life Magic Seeds In Trinidad, where as new arrivals we were a disadvantaged community, that excluding idea was a kind of protection; it enabled us - for the time being, and only for the time being - to live in our own way and according to our own rules, to live in our own fading India. -V.S. Naipaul SALMAN RUSHDIE
Origin Selected Works
Born in India but Grimus raised in Pakistan Midnight’s Children before later moving to Shame Britain. The Satanic Verses Haroun and the Sea of Stories Shalimar the Clown
Literature is the one place in any society where, within the secrecy of our own heads, we can hear voices talking about everything in every possible way. -Salman Rushdie KIRAN DESAI
Origin Works
Born and raised in The Inheritance of India until she moved Loss to England at the age Hullabaloo in the of fourteen. Guava Orchard
“But then, how could you have any self-respect knowing that you didn't believe in anything exactly? How did you embrace what was yours if you didn't leave something for it? How did you create a life of meaning and pride?” -Kiran Desai
ARUNDHATI ROY
Origin Selected Works
Of India origin and The God of Small lives in India (but Things writes with an Indian War Talk Diaspora perspective) An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire Power Politics The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile
“The American way of life is not sustainable. It doesn’t acknowledge that there is a world beyond America. ” -Arundhati Roy
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Arundhati Roy." Arundhati Roy. 2006. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
"FAQs." Reserve Bank of India. 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
"Indian Diaspora." History of Indian Diaspora. NRI Online Pvt. Ltd. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
"Jhumpa Lahiri." Random House, 2008. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
"Kiran Desai." British Council Literature Team. British Council Arts Group, 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
Pryce-Jones, David. "Biography." Nobelprize.org. The Nobel Foundation, 2001. Web. 15 Mar. 2012.
Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.
Rushdie, Salman. Shame. New York: Knopf, 1983. Print.
"Salman Rushdie." The Official Website. 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
Thilakarathne, Indeewara. "Diaspora and Diasporic Literature." Sunday Observer. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.