A saga of travel, love and loss: A study of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Before We visit the Goddess
Author Name
Nandini C Sen
Author Address
Nandini C Sen, Bharati College, Delhi University
Keywords
Diaspora literature, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Novel
Abstract
Before We Visit the Goddess (2016) is a story of three women across generations and countries as the narration moves erratically from India of the’60s to America in the contemporary times. Through the protagonists and their forays Divakaruni explores her familiar world of Calcutta where she grew up and her current place of residence, the US. The novel moves seamlessly addressing issues like poverty, literacy, freedom and most importantly the woman’s quest for self realization.
This paper wishes to explore the Diasporic nature of Divakaruni’s oeuvre as she straddles cultures, civilizations, language and the desperate urge for belongingness. It aims to study this text as a treatise of cultural explorations from the past to the present and the sense of continuum which still seems to bind the current generation who have never visited their home country. The umbilical cord connecting the host and the home country will be explored through a study of this text
Conference
International Conference on "Global Migration: Rethinking Skills, Knowledge and Culture"