Chasing Home and Searching Identity: The Meaning of Place in Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine Cover Image

Chasing Home and Searching Identity: The Meaning of Place in Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine
Chasing Home and Searching Identity: The Meaning of Place in Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine

Author(s): Sanja Čukić
Subject(s): Theory of Literature
Published by: Filološki fakultet, Nikšić
Keywords: Bharati Mukherjee; Jasmine; identity; hybrid identity; displacement; diaspora; home

Summary/Abstract: Jasmine is a unique novel written by Bharatee Mukherjee about an Indian girl who comes to America to pursue her dream of freedom and a better life. However tempting the idea about the American dream might appear to Jasmine, her journey across the ocean results in many difficulties and problems regarding her adjustment to a new society. Jasmine is trying to find herself by constantly questioning her identity and cultural affiliation. In order to re-invent herself and fit into American society, Jasmine constantly transforms her personality. This quest for the Self leads Jasmine to a realization that she is neither Indian nor American, but something in between. On the example of Mukherjee’s novel, the purpose of this paper is to explore the issues that many immigrants in diaspora struggle with in their search for identity, as well as the ways in which the transition from one place to another changes their attitudes and points of view.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 15
  • Page Range: 125-134
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: English