Between Memory and Modernity: The Representation of India in Diasporic Narratives

Diasporic literature by Indian writers offers a profound exploration of identity, belonging, and cultural negotiation. India, as represented in these texts, emerges as both a nostalgic homeland and a contested site of socio-political critique. This paper examines the representation of India in diasporic narratives through themes of nostalgia, hybridity, cultural conflict, gender, religion, language, colonial memory, and globalization. Drawing on works by Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Bharati Mukherjee, Rohinton Mistry, and others, the study highlights how India is depicted as a dynamic construct shaped by memory, imagination, and critique. Ultimately, diasporic literature positions India as a space of negotiation between tradition and modernity, homeland and hostland, memory and globalization.