அ.மததலஙகம சறகதகளல அயலக வழகக நல / The Condition of Expatriate Life in A. Muthulingam's Short Stories

This article explores the portrayal of diasporic existence in A. Muthulingam’s short stories. It examines his literary representations of socio-cultural realities across eleven countries where he resided and worked that includes the United States, Afghanistan, Canada, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, France, Somalia, Kenya (Nairobi), Sweden, and Puerto Rico. The study investigates how Muthulingam’s fiction that captures the complex interplay between cultural preservation and adaptation in foreign environments. The analysis focuses on Muthulingam’s depictions of daily life abroad by his attention to cultural practices, dietary customs, ethnic and linguistic differences, and varying levels of civilizational development. His stories reveal the psychological and social challenges faced by migrant communities as they find their way in unfamiliar value systems while striving to maintain their cultural heritage. The narratives serve as valuable ethnographic accounts that document both the opportunities and struggles inherent in transnational mobility, from economic advancement to experiences of racial discrimination and cultural alienation. Through his literary portrayals, Muthulingam emerges as a storyteller of the Tamil transnational experience by offering insights into the preservation of cultural memory and the formation of hybrid identities in diaspora communities. His works contribute significantly to broader discourses on migration literature by showing the complex terrain of postcolonial labour movements and the enduring connections between migrants and their homelands. Hence, the article studies the stories that show how individuals and communities negotiate their identities across geographical and cultural boundaries in the short stories of Muthulingam.