The Routledge Handbook of Indian Diaspora Writers

Introduction: The Palimpsest of Syncretic Identities in Indian Diaspora Literature
Bijender Singh

A General Introduction to the Handbook
Bijender Singh, Protibha Mukherjee Sahukar, Surendra Kumar Sao, and Anurag Ambasta

PART 1

Memory, Trauma, and the Immigrant Experience

1 Magical Realism in Rashida Murphy's The Historian's Daughter
Ancy Eapen

2 Unhomed at Homeland and Hostland: Diasporic Trauma in Bharati Mukherjee's Wife
Keshab Sigdel

3 Dual Identities in a Globalized World: Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake
Elham Hossain

4 The Reverberations of Trauma, Memory, and Healing in Anjana Appachana's Fear and Lovely
Guni Vats and Mouli Chowdhury

5 Resonances of Pain: Psychological Trauma and Resilience in Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us
Mohanapriya

6 Jemubhai Patel's Colonial Mania and Biju's Diasporic Dilemma in Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss
Upakul Patowary and Jeuti Talukdar

7 Reclaiming the Unclaimed: Memory, Identity, and Belonging in Uma Parameswaran's What Was Always Hers
Sayan Mukherjee and Naqui Ahmad John

8 Trauma of Domestic Violence and Queer Liminality in Shani Mootoo's Cereus Blooms at Night
Baiju Krishnan and Deepanjali Baruah

PART 2

Exile, Nostalgia, and Migration

9 Homeland, Exile, and Memory: Tracing Diasporic Identity in Meena Alexander's Fault Lines
Sadia Afroz

10 The Diasporic within: Internal Exile and External Migration in Padma Viswanathan's The Toss of a Lemon
Smita Sharma and Nisha Dubey

11 Double Migration, Alienation, and Powerlessness in M.G. Vassanji's No New Land
Srinivas Kathyayini and V. Lakshmi Prasanna

12 The Quixotic Dream and Endless Struggle: Exigency, Vicissitude, and Ambiguous Legacy in V.S. Naipaul's A House for Mr Biswas
Kusum Kangar

13 The Shadow of Colonialism: Belonging and Cultural Dislocation in Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey
Raajitha Rachuri

14 The Arabatized Man: Transience, Migration, and Precarity in Deepak Unnikrishnan's Temporary People
Sonia Srivastava and Shramita Pandey

15 Diasporic Consciousness and Korobi's Journey of Self‑Actualization in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Oleander Girl
Swayam Prava Mishra

16 Acculturation Stress and Generational Diasporic Differences in Tanuja Desai's Born Confused
Kumari Shikha and Dipali Sharma Bhandari

PART 3

Gender, Marginalization, and Empowerment

17 Wandering Whispers of the Drifting Hearts in Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Heat and Dust
Tabassum Islam Nabanee

18 Reading Gendered Experiences of Migration in Anita Rau Badami's Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?
Ravi Kant and Asit Panda

19 Identity Constructs in Anita Desai's Bye‑Bye Blackbird
Gurpyari Bhatnagar and Lakshmi Subramanian

20 Roots and Routes: Mapping Diasporic Terrains in Meera Syal's Anita and Me
Suruchi Sharma

21 Ethical Dilemma, Surrogacy, and Selfhood: Navigating Gender, Class, Identity, and Personal Growth in Amulya Malladi's A House for Happy Mothers
Meenu Dudeja

22 Shauna Singh Baldwin's What the Body Remembers: Memory, Trauma, and the Female Experience
Rashmi Jain

23 Humour as Cultural Critique: Charting Diasporic Masculinity and Identity in Anurag Mathur's The Inscrutable Americans
Snigdha Bhatt and Mamta Rani

24 Neither Here, Nor Whole: Queer In‑Betweenness and Diasporic Disillusionment in Neel Patel's If You See Me, Don't Say Hi
Vishwajeet and Anjila Singh Mehla

25 Cultural Displacement and Identity Crisis: A Feminist Study of Moni's Cross‑Cultural Marriage in Sunetra Gupta's Memories of Rain
Swati Mittal and Shivani Vashist

PART 4

Power, Politics, and Postcolonialism

26 A Study of Agentic Materiality of Waste Explored through the Diasporic Discourse in Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide
Celin Raichel Sarona and David Jeyaraj Franklin T.

27 Poisoned Lives, Resilient Spirits: Unveiling Environmental Injustice in Indra Sinha's Animal's People
Suresh Frederick

28 Saleem Sinai and Magic Realism: A Study of the Conflation of History and National Trajectory in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children
Asha Prabhakaran and Preetha Prabhasan

29 Power Politics and the Postcolonial Discourse in Suketu Mehta's This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant's Manifesto
Nigar Ahmed and Archana M. Sardana

30 From Homeland to Hostile Land: A Postcolonial Analysis of Kamala Markandaya's The Nowhere Man
Meenu Bhola and Sakshi Singh

31 Postcolonial Migration and Identity: Analysing Pran Nath's Fluid Identity Portrayed in Hari Kunzru's The Impressionist
Milind Solanki and Hetal Meriya

PART 5

Cultural Hybridity, Relationships, Nature, and Social Strictures

32 Satire and Social Strictures: Marriage and Identity in Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy
Reshu Singh

33 Navigating the Mystical and Cultural Landscapes in Easterine Kire's When the River Sleeps: A Study of Naga Identity and Spiritual Resilience
Dhiman Chakraborty and A. Joshua Pravin Kumar

34 Generational Conflicts and the Collapse of Family in Neel Mukherjee's The Lives of Others
Archana and P. Kiranmai

35 The Dystopian Reality of Organ Trade in a Hyper‑Technological World in Manjula Padmanabhan's Harvest
Kalyan Pattanayak and Mayank Kumar

36 The Recondite Secrets, Sinister Shadows in Warp and Weft of Twisted Truths Camouflaging Deception and Danger in Sujata Massey's The Widows of Malabar Hill
Shailja Bahadur and Ram Sebak Thakur

37 Beyond the Ramp: Religious Boundaries, Cultural Dogma, and Metamorphosis of Self in Kavita Daswani's Salaam Paris
Shikha Saxena

38 Articulating the New Britishness: Rudeboys and Cultural Hybridity in Gautam Malkani's Londonstani
Kshamata Chaudhary and Poonam Nigam Sahay

Biography

Bijender Singh is PhD Co-supervisor in the Department of English at Shri Jagdishprasad Jhabarmal Tibrewala University, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, India. He is the Editor-in-Chief of The Expression: An International Multidisciplinary e-Journal.

Protibha Mukherjee Sahukar is the Principal of Durga Mahavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India.

Surendra Kumar Sao is the Principal of Late Shri Jaidev Satpathi Government College, Basna, District Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh, India.

Anurag Ambasta is Dean and Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Xavier University, Patna, Bihar, India.