An Exploration of Cultural and Psychological emancipation of an immigrant woman in Bharati Mukherjees novel Jasmine

Name of Author : D Balaji, Dr. M Thenmozhi

Abstract: Bharati Mukherjee, one of the most renowned writers of the Indian Diaspora, frequently expresses many issues faced by Indian immigrants, particularly women, who travel to the United States of America. Through her works she highlights the dominant themes of the Indian Diaspora, particularly the immigrants struggle to fit in with local ethos, cultures, and people of both the country of their immigration and their native homeland. She also underscores the element of acclimatization and personality change through her works. This paper examines how the protagonist Jasmine is subjected to the cultural and psychological transformations in order to establish her own identity in a foreign land. Through the life story of Jasmine, the author recalls the fact that lives of the immigrants are undoubtedly a series of reincarnations given the drastic exposure to social and geographical relocation. The author makes the crucial point that one must assimilate the cultural ethos of the majority and learn to let go of the past in order to be absorbed in the culture of the adopted milieu. The main character, Jasmine, embodies this inevitable change of time.

Keywords : Diaspora, Multiculturalism, Identity, Nostalgia, Emancipation

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