Diasporic negotiations a study of the Select novels of shauna singh Baldwin Chitra banerjee divakaruni indira Ganesan kamila shamsie bapsi sidhwa And sara suleri

Abstract

newlineTo establish dominance over other nations the European colonizers newlinepostulated binary oppositions between the centre margin and the newlinecivilized primitive races thus creating hierarchal cultural differences newlinebetween the West and the rest This notion deeply embedded within Western newlinethinking has necessitated the need to challenge and resist false notions of newlinecultural purity and superiority through an initiation of cultural negotiations newlineDuring the heyday of colonialism the novel was widely used to newlineestablish dominance In the hands of the postcolonial writers it has become a newlinepotent tool in subverting Wests false notions of cultural superiority Shauna newlineSingh Baldwin Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Indira Ganesan Kamila newlineShamsie Bapsi Sidhwa and Sara Suleri as diasporic writers negotiate newlinecultural differences to deconstruct the binary opposition between the centre newlineand the margin perpetrated by the European colonizers to establish structures newlineof power The novels chosen for analysis are Baldwin s What the Body newlineRemembers Divakaruni Sister of My Heart Ganesan The Journey Shamsie Salt and Saffron Sidhwa An American Brat and Suleri Meatless Days newline newline