Dr. Rituraj Trivedi
Assistant Professor, Department of English & Foreign Languages, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, M.P.
E-mail: riturajtrivedi.bog@gmail.com
Issue: Volume 2 No. 1 (March 2026) Anubodhan
Received: 21 March 2026 / Revised: 23 March 2026 / Accepted: 24 March 2026 / Published: 31 March 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n1.2026.020
Abstract
In her novels, Jhumpa Lahiri examines migration and cultural conflict extensively, and her works convey the silent voices of women. In both The Namesake (2003) and The Lowland (2013), she represents the struggles and negotiations of women living between their country of origin and the host country. Women are typically portrayed as carrying the emotional burden of being displaced and having to carry the memory and the nostalgia for their homeland, while also dealing with the shame of losing their cultural identity. In her writing, Jhumpa Lahiri portrays women as both guardians of tradition and facilitators of movement in their migrant homeland. Through the character of Ashima Ganguli in The Namesake Jhumpa Lahiri illustrates that women must navigate feelings of estrangement, reconciliation, and disorientation within the familiar cultural landscape of their homeland, even as they integrate into American culture for the benefit of their family. Similarly, The Lowland illustrates how the female protagonists navigate not only geographical migration but also political and generational migration, showing how migration transforms not only personal relationships but also identities. Women in Jhumpa Lahiri’s stories face internal conflicts related to arranged marriages and their own desires; individual freedoms and family obligations; and maintaining their cultural identity while assimilating into American culture. Through a woman-centred approach, Jhumpa Lahiri emphasizes that migration is not only a physical move but also an existential transformation that reshapes womanhood, motherhood, and female agency. Her novels illustrate the unspoken challenges that immigrant women face as they construct hybrid identities within conflicting cultures. This paper will demonstrate that Jhumpa Lahiri’s women are exemplary models of resilience, adaptation, and transformation, and that they offer a new lens for examining the intersection of gender, migration, and cultural conflict.
Keywords: Displacement, assimilation, Dual identity, Migration, Cultural conflict
How to cite: Trivedi, R. (2026). A Feminist Exploration of Gender, Migration, and Cultural Negotiation in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Select Novels. Anubodhan, 2(1), 208–219. https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n1.2026.020