Identity In Diaspora

The people of colonized areas, Asia and Africa, were open to an opportunity, to travel away to the imperial center, Europe, during colonial period. Even after the uproot of the colonial period, people still migrated because of economic, political, cultural, or personal reasons. They started settling there. The movement of people to an alien land and then settling there is known as Diaspora. The settlers face great burden in accommodating themselves with the society of the new land, because the old country, along with it’s religion, language, and culture occupies a substantial part of their thoughts. From the very starting of their settlement in the foreign land, the diasporans faced the problem of forgetting their past identity and mingling with the new one. This conflict divides their two existences- old and present, which, ultimately, creates dilemma for them. They discover the juxtaposition of ambivalent notions about the two worlds, which lead them to an ever tormenting state of dual existence. They, very awfully, often discover the fact that they belong to nowhere, and are the inhabitants of noman’s land. They could not forget their past, neither embrace the new land whole-heartedly, and so, lived with the duality of mind. For doing so, they have to go through a great deal of reshuffling of their thoughts and activities which make them feel alienated in their new life. The people who are …show more content…
As Rushdie has said in ‘Imaginary Homelands’ “This living in-between condition is very painful and marginalizing for the diasporas. There is yearning for home to go back to the lost origin and imaginary homelands (Rushdie9--21) are created from the fragmentary and partial memories of the homelands”. affliction of the first settlers. But it can easily be assumed that their torment isn’t as intense as that of the first settlers because of their affinity with the land in which they are born and brought