Diasporic Identity, Culture Shock and Hybridity in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland

Abstract

Diasporic literature is often preoccupied with the themes of identity, displacement and hybridity, particularly in the postcolonial and globalized world. This paper analyses Jhumpa Lahiri’s Pulitzer-winning narrative style and her novel The Lowland in the light of diaspora studies and postcolonial theory. Drawing on the ideas of Edward Said, Homi Bhabha, Stuart Hall and others, the paper situates Lahiri’s fiction in the larger discourse of migration and acculturation. The novel vividly portrays the struggles of Indian immigrants in reconciling their inherited cultural values with the individualistic ethos of American society. Characters such as Subhash and Gauri embody the tensions between rootedness and assimilation, highlighting the inevitable culture shock and hybrid identities that emerge in diaspora. Lahiri’s delicate narrative demonstrates that diasporic experiences cannot be understood in binary terms of tradition and modernity; rather, they reflect continuous negotiation, cultural contestation and hybridity.