Urban and Rural Narratives of Female Relocation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Novels Queen of Dreams and The Mistress of Spices
In today’s global world, the urban/ rural opposition is increasingly becoming a more relevant marker of the acculturation of foreigners whose adoption of national values is reflected by the spaces they inhabit. As they bring with them traditions related to the healing and balancing forces of the ear...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2012-12-01
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| Series: | American, British and Canadian Studies Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2013-0005 |
| _version_ | 1819109452379324416 |
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| author | Alexandru Maria-Sabina Draga |
| author_facet | Alexandru Maria-Sabina Draga |
| author_sort | Alexandru Maria-Sabina Draga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In today’s global world, the urban/ rural opposition is increasingly becoming a more relevant marker of the acculturation of foreigners whose adoption of national values is reflected by the spaces they inhabit. As they bring with them traditions related to the healing and balancing forces of the earth, immigrants prompt a reconsideration of the urban/ rural dichotomy in the metropolitan spaces they come to inhabit. Rural landscape in American culture has a long tradition of acting as a source of an alternative symbolic imaginary, responsible for boosting people’s feelings of patriotic commitment that are crucial to national integration. Diasporic American fiction has increasingly combined this tradition with symbolic magic and natural elements brought over from the “other” cultural backgrounds their authors come from. This paper aims to study the socio-political negotiations in a few instances of cultural translation within the urban/ rural dialectic in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novels The Mistress of Spices and Queen of Dreams. I will suggest that Divakaruni’s female protagonists work their initial experience of dislocation into a discourse of nature and the earth free from boundaries, based on a rejection of urban alienation and the discovery of the reconciliatory potential of America’s nature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T03:26:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c00303b929dc4e5d8c2cfef581864271 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1841-964X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T03:26:03Z |
| publishDate | 2012-12-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | American, British and Canadian Studies Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-c00303b929dc4e5d8c2cfef5818642712022-12-21T18:40:36ZengSciendoAmerican, British and Canadian Studies Journal1841-964X2012-12-01192012778610.2478/abcsj-2013-0005Urban and Rural Narratives of Female Relocation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Novels Queen of Dreams and The Mistress of SpicesAlexandru Maria-Sabina Draga0University of BucharestIn today’s global world, the urban/ rural opposition is increasingly becoming a more relevant marker of the acculturation of foreigners whose adoption of national values is reflected by the spaces they inhabit. As they bring with them traditions related to the healing and balancing forces of the earth, immigrants prompt a reconsideration of the urban/ rural dichotomy in the metropolitan spaces they come to inhabit. Rural landscape in American culture has a long tradition of acting as a source of an alternative symbolic imaginary, responsible for boosting people’s feelings of patriotic commitment that are crucial to national integration. Diasporic American fiction has increasingly combined this tradition with symbolic magic and natural elements brought over from the “other” cultural backgrounds their authors come from. This paper aims to study the socio-political negotiations in a few instances of cultural translation within the urban/ rural dialectic in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novels The Mistress of Spices and Queen of Dreams. I will suggest that Divakaruni’s female protagonists work their initial experience of dislocation into a discourse of nature and the earth free from boundaries, based on a rejection of urban alienation and the discovery of the reconciliatory potential of America’s nature.https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2013-0005chitra banerjee divakaruniecrocriticismmigrantnarrativerelocationruralurbansouth asian americantranslationtransnationalwomen’s literature |
| spellingShingle | Alexandru Maria-Sabina Draga Urban and Rural Narratives of Female Relocation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Novels Queen of Dreams and The Mistress of Spices American, British and Canadian Studies Journal chitra banerjee divakaruni ecrocriticism migrant narrative relocation rural urban south asian american translation transnational women’s literature |
| title | Urban and Rural Narratives of Female Relocation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Novels Queen of Dreams and The Mistress of Spices |
| title_full | Urban and Rural Narratives of Female Relocation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Novels Queen of Dreams and The Mistress of Spices |
| title_fullStr | Urban and Rural Narratives of Female Relocation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Novels Queen of Dreams and The Mistress of Spices |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban and Rural Narratives of Female Relocation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Novels Queen of Dreams and The Mistress of Spices |
| title_short | Urban and Rural Narratives of Female Relocation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Novels Queen of Dreams and The Mistress of Spices |
| title_sort | urban and rural narratives of female relocation in chitra banerjee divakaruni s novels queen of dreams and the mistress of spices |
| topic | chitra banerjee divakaruni ecrocriticism migrant narrative relocation rural urban south asian american translation transnational women’s literature |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2013-0005 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alexandrumariasabinadraga urbanandruralnarrativesoffemalerelocationinchitrabanerjeedivakarunisnovelsqueenofdreamsandthemistressofspices |