Critical Study Of The Concept Of Home In Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake

Abstract

This article critically examines the evolving concept of home in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Namesake, highlighting how diasporic identities shape and reshape feelings of belonging across generations. The study explores home not simply as a physical dwelling but as an emotional, cultural, and psychological construct influenced by migration, memory, and identity negotiation. Through an analysis of Lahiri’s portrayal of the Ganguli family, the article reveals the contrasting ways in which first- and second-generation immigrants perceive and inhabit home. For Ashoke and Ashima, home is deeply tied to cultural memory, nostalgia, and the desire to preserve Bengali traditions within an unfamiliar American landscape. Their sense of belonging emerges through attempts to recreate cultural rituals and maintain emotional ties with India. In contrast, Lahiri presents the second-generation experience through Gogol, whose understanding of home is shaped by a hybrid identity and internal conflict. His journey underscores the fluidity of home, suggesting that belonging for diasporic youth is neither fully rooted in the ancestral homeland nor entirely in the host country. The study also considers the role of mobility and transition, illustrating how migration produces multiple, overlapping notions of home. Ultimately, this article argues that The Namesake offers a nuanced and dynamic exploration of home as a continuously negotiated space within the diasporic experience.