Analysis Of Diaspora, Migration, And Cultural Hybridity/Global Mapping In The Short Story Interpreter Of Maladies By Jhumpa Lahiri
- account_circle Ochin
- calendar_month Sel, 3 Mar 2026
Jhumpa Lahiri is a writer known for her works on identity and the value of cultural alienation. Jhumpa Lahiri is an American woman of Indian descent. On YouTube, there is a video titled “Short Story Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri in 1999.” The video is about a man named Mr. Kapasi who works as a tour guide and an American family of mixed Indian descent vacationing in India. During the trip, Mr. Kapasi overhears Mrs. Das telling her husband that their child is not his biological child and wants to address her feelings of guilt. In this video, we aim to analyze the themes of diaspora, migration, and cultural hybridity/global mapping contained within it.
In the Diaspora,The sentence “feeling culturally adrift, not really feeling like you belong here or there” at 5:49-5:53 in the video describes the diaspora experience, which is feeling culturally adrift, not really comfortable here or there, like the Das family, second generation Indian immigrants who were born and raised in America, but when vacationing in India, they look Indian but dress and speak like Americans, thus feeling like strangers in both places. After that, there is migration in the video content. There is a migration value, but it is not explained directly.
The background identity becomes a symbol of migration because the Das family seems less prominent in Indian traditions emotionally. After that, there are signs of cultural erosion because the Das family visits India only as a vacation destination even though they have Indian roots.
Mixed identities are evident in Indian diaspora figures living in America and those returning to visit India. They are not entirely “Indian” but also not entirely “American.” For example, the Das family in the story “Interpreter of Maladies” are Indian-Americans who physically have Indian roots, but in terms of behavior and mindset are more closely to American culture.
- Penulis: Ochin
