Homeland: A Shifting Pendulum in M.G. Vassanji's The Book of Secrets

This paper aims to investigate the notion of homeland in M.G. Vassanji’s novel ‘The Book of Secrets’. The novel covers in the purview of its pseudo-historical narrative, the process of colonization resulting in the dispersal of the people away from their homeland followed by the eventual decolonization rendering many people homeless. ‘Homeland’ in this novel is looked upon as a mirage, much sought after by the characters in de-colonized Africa, some of whom accept the notion of world citizenship while some languish in a dilemma of claiming a space of their own. Indian immigrants in East Africa keep chasing the mirage of a homeland all their lives and it eludes them as they find themselves in the position of outsiders in newly independent African countries. The novel deals with the broader issue of how each of the characters arrives at a solution in their unique predicament. This paper attempts to analyze the shifting notion of homeland reflected in the novel from the perspective of diaspora theory.