A Lacanian Gaze into Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake

The Namesake, published by Jhumpa Lahiri in 2003, illustrates the cultural and social identity issues of two generations of an Indian-American family, who struggle to adjust between two different cultures. As a second-generation son, Gogol, the protagonist of the novel, is trapped between these two cultures and experiences an identity crisis. In the journey of discovering his true self, Gogol has conflicts with his Indian roots along with the American society he has been raised in. He was named after his father’s favourite Russian author. His biggest conflict, however, starts with the dilemma he experiences with his own name. To deal with his identity crisis, he tries to leave his roots behind and embraces his American side. However, this attempt will not be a solution to the crisis he feels deep down inside of him. In this respect, this study aims to explore the journey of the protagonist’s identity construction in the context of Lacanian Psychoanalysis. In order to portray the identity development process of the protagonist, Gogol is analysed in relation to the three Orders of Lacan: the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real. Regarding the protagonist's experience of these three Orders, Gogol is seen to be a Lacanian infant, who is in pursuit of his lost object of desire called object petit a to sustain the intimate connection with his true self.