Narratives of Displacement: Analysing the Themes of Identity and Belonging in Contemporary Diasporic Literature with reference to The Namesake and The Inheritance of Loss

The study underscores the theme of the search for identity and belonging in The Namesake and The Inheritance of Loss. The Namesake chronicles the life of Gogol, whose Indian identity oscillates, and he navigates the cultural gulf between Indian heritage and American rearing. The parents, Ashoke and Ashima, grapple with the feeling of displacement while attempting to inculcate cultural continuity in their child. The Inheritance of Loss examines characters like Sai's lives caught between the fragments of colonialism and the undercurrents of globalisation. She is an orphaned Indian girl with her Anglophile grandfather, and Biju is an immigrant in the United States. They are both facing estrangement in various ways. Through the cultural dislocation, colonial legacies and the quest for identity, the study reveals the characters’ journey towards self-discovery and illuminates the ways in which diasporic literature communicates the complexities of displacement, offering a richer understanding of human standing in a globalised world.