LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:6 June 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
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         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
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         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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“The Diasporising of Home”1: Exploring the Duality of “Home” in the
Poetry of Agha Shahid Ali

Prasun Maji, Ph.D. Research Scholar


Courtesy: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nostalgists-map-of-america-agha-shahid-ali/1100879649

Abstract

In the course of diaspora studies, the definition of the concepts of nation or nationhood, home or homeland and last but not the least, identity has changed a lot. Academicians like Avtar Brah has redefined and reconfigured the diasporic notion of home - an argument which has acquired a distinct place in the research on diaspora. They theorise home and suggest that the disputative perception of home can be discussed from both geographical and psychic points of view. Indian diasporic writers such as, Bharati Mukherjee, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Kavita Daswani, Jhumpa Lahiri, A. K. Ramanujan, Agha Shahid Ali and so on, have represented this duality of home in their writings. The Indian-American diasporic poet Agha Shahid Ali has drawn on both Indian and American cultures simultaneously. As he expresses his poignant nostalgia and concern for India, his geographical home, he represents America not from the perspective of an outsider; rather, he views it as his second home- the fountain of his psychological solace. In this article, my purpose is to show how Shahid Ali has dealt with this dual concept of home and reflected it in his poetic compositions successfully and artistically.

Keywords: Agha Shahid Ali,.Diaspora, nation/nationhood, home/homeland, duality, India, America

Introduction

The Indian born American poet Agha Shahid Ali’s (1949-2001) poetry has been highly acclaimed because of their multifaceted and heterogeneous aspects and themes- political scenario of Kashmir, Indian ghazals, European classical music, Indian myths, American landscape and many more. Perhaps the greatest appreciation of Shahid’s poetry comes from his friend and critic Daniel Hall who in the Foreword to The Veiled Suite, an anthology of Shahid’s poems, compares his poetry to Eliot’s Four Quartets because of their numerous approaches, declaring that they “are not incomprehensible, but inexhaustible; they reward rereading; they teach us and change us as we grow older with them” (17). Through this article, my purpose is to argue how Shahid Ali has dealt with the diasporic concept of ‘home’ and represented them in his poetry. To put it otherwise, this paper proposes to show how Shahid, as a diasporic subject, constitutes the binary proposition of ‘home’- both India and America- through his poetic compositions.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Prasun Maji
Ph.D. Research Scholar
Bankura University
Guest Faculty at M.U.C. Women’s College (P.G.)
Burdwan
West Bengal
India
prasunmaji1@gmail.com

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