Nishabda Sancharangal

Abstract

hybrid identity and ruthless experiences of being away from homeland. Romania is discussed again in violence and media and its representation as shown in Italy and immigrant country Romania. A cultural religious identity of Indians in Romania is the focus of another chapter leading to a strong community identity in Europe. There are few essays on films and the representation of diaspora in media, including perception of South Asian Muslims post 9/11 period by Indian directors and the construction of diasporic subjectivities through films. Deepa Mehta and her perception of Gandhi’s concept of Truth are seen in one of the essays in the context of Derridas’s notion of Lie of the State and State of the Lie. A chapter on the short-term visiting parents in Indo-Canadian diaspora is a notable new arena of research with sociological perspective. It analyses intricately how the bond in diaspora actually crosses the family to the nations. Essay on issues on surrogacy and transnational mother– child relation gives a refreshing thought to the readers in understanding motherhood. The recovery of ‘another voice’ is reflected in the essay on queer diaspora, which focuses on the deprived reality space of the ‘third gender’ and forces them towards the virtual and cyberspace. The Sikh Diaspora, Nigerian diaspora, South Asian Diaspora, Britain’s referendum of 2016 on European Union membership and its impact on immigration forms a part of this section of the book. These chapters widen the area of reading in diaspora. A feminist outlook is presented by the essay on hollowness and homelessness of Taslima Nasreen’s journey to ‘other’ nation protesting against patriarchy. The book is summed up again with essays in search of identity and problems of distinct crises through the novels of Chitra Banerjee and Bharati Mukherjee. Overall, it is a very well-conceived, documented and scholarly work of research on diaspora. The book does not conventionally focus on the economic and social aspects of diaspora but looks into the problems and dimensions of trans-nationality and hybridity. It fills the void of a long-needed reference book covering an extended well-connected history of emigration and problems and issues of communities involved in it. Readers would benefit from the addition of a noteworthy foreword and an analytical introduction by Nilufer E. Bharucha, one of the editors. However, some chapters in the third section have repetition in thoughts, and relevance in certain areas would make the book more focused.