Identity Politics and Diaspora in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Vine of Desire

Abstract

This paper tries to examine the identity politics and diaspora in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Vine of Desire against the backdrop of cross-cultural, inter-racial, multi-ethnic and transnational communication and interaction. Her concern with identity construction and identity crisis of both her male and female characters call for critical study. The communication and interactions are mainly the outcomes of an individual or community’s journey, movement and migration from one locale to another. While the traditional notion of identity relies on the concept of sameness and oneness in the context of diasporic identity, this notion of sameness has come under severe strain. That the changes and transformations taking place in individual and social lives are important constituents of one’s identity is a well-accepted argument in contemporary critical parlance. Moreover, the cultural difference and conflict formulate an important ground for critical overview.