This weeks reading is the Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri whose characters are Indian immigrants that migrated to America and return to their homeland India. To provide some historical context, the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan and the Indian diaspora are two important concepts that I will address. On August 15, 1947, the division of British India into two sperate countries (India and Pakistan) was known as the Partition of India, solidifying the independence from British colonial rule. This partition was solidified by the Indian Independence Act of 1947 which legally recognized India and Pakistan as two self-governing countries. However, while this was a moment of great triumph, it was also stricken with overwhelming violence and death as around two-million people lost their lives in the conflict that followed the Partition.
The division of the Indian subcontinent to India and Pakistan was also heavily influence by religion, as areas that were predominantly Muslim were assigned to Pakistan and areas that were majority Hindu to India. As a result, millions of Hindus and Muslims were displaced as disputes over territory followed soon after the newfound independence. The India diaspora— the dispersion of any people from their homeland—was the migration and displacement of between ten to two million people along religious lines. After changes in U.S. immigration policies, Indian settlement in the U.S. saw a dramatic increase in the mid-1960s, an immigration story similar to that of the Das Family who is introduced to us in the short stories.
Author Jhumpa Lahiri also has a similar story as her own parents immigrated from Calcutta, India to the United Kingdom where she was born. Lahiri uses her personal background as an Indian American to create characters that are authentic to a multi-cultural experience, while also reflecting on her own experiences as well as her parents. This emphasizes the volume at which cultural context can shift ones understanding of an authors’ writing.
Citations:
Perkin, R. C. (2017, June 12). 1947 Partition of India & Pakistan. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from https://exhibits.stanford.edu/1947-partition/about/1947-partition-of-india-pakistan
https://exhibits.stanford.edu/1947-partition/about/1947-partition-of-india-pakistan
Shea, Taylor (2008) “Interpreter of Maladies: A Rhetorical Practice Transmitting Cultural Knowledge,” Reason and Respect: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 2
https://docs.rwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=rr
Hi Kennedy,
Thank you for this post. Although I got the chance to also do research on the Partition of India and Pakistan for my context reading project, I enjoyed your addition about the Indian diaspora. I was relatively uneducated about this. One question I have is did the Partition cause the diaspora to occur or was it due to being forced out by a foreign invader? I also found your last paragraph interesting because it provided some detail why and how Jhumpa Lahiri picks her stories and characters. She uses her own personal experience with immigration to help paint vivid short stories of other families going through similar struggles.
Hi Kennedy,
Thank you for your researching presentation. Under the environmental information you provided, I could understand the content in the article better. Affecting by different cultures and religions, many people become homeless. It is so pathetic. I deeply agree with you that the characters in Lahiri’s article attest to this tragedy.
Kennedy,
I really enjoyed reading over your presentation, and I thought it was very well prepared and well researched. Your background information really helped to provide me with insight on the topic that I did not previously have. Overall, this post was very well written and the information was well thought out!
Hi Kennedy!
Thank you for this background to the conflicts and struggles between Pakistan and India, as this helps me to understand more about our main characters and the struggles that led to where they are in the story, and it provides context for some of the things that had happened in the world as we read the story.
Hey Kennedy,
It was very informative to read your presentation about the partition of India and Pakistan. It seems that a common trait with colonization is the destruction of societies in which they claim. The information you provided in your presentation was very helpful in understanding Lahiri’s perspective, as well as the characters in the short story. I wonder if this perspective is similar to an immigrant family from Pakistan?
Hi Kennedy! You gave us a really great presentation this week. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this weeks readings. I agree with your idea and statement that culture context can shift ones understanding. This goes for so many different things in life. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kennedy,
I really enjoyed reading your context presentation this week. I thought you gave some really interesting information about the partition of India. I actually have some friends whose grandparents were from India and lived through this. I liked being able to combine my previous knowledge with your presentation. Great analysis!
Hi Kennedy,
Your presentation was very interesting and beneficial in understanding the Interpreter of Maladies. Knowing the historical conflicts regarding India and Pakistan that led to the immigration of many Indians to the US, helped me understand the protagonist and her families emotions and reasoning behind their immigration experience.
Hey Kennedy,
I am not very knowledgeable on past historical conflicts between India and Pakistan so your presentation was insightful. I can definitely see this background information being useful when considering the character’s point of view in this week’s story!
Hi Kennedy,
I really enjoyed reading your presentation. Since I am Indian, I know some stuff about India and Pakistan, but it was interesting to read more about the Indian diaspora. It was very interesting to use this information while reading Lahiri’s short stories.
Hi kennedy,
Your introduction of British India’s division is very detailed, and it let me fully understand the history. You also talk about Indian immigrants, and the relation between the immigration and our story.
Contextual research projects require a deep understanding of subject matter. The Strategic Project Management Seminar and Master Class equips students with the tools to conduct thorough research and present findings effectively.