Reclaiming Voices: Feminist Consciousness and Cultural Negotiation in the Indian Diaspora through a Postcolonial Lens

Abstract

The Indian diaspora, shaped by centuries of colonial displacement, voluntary migration, and transnational flows, has produced a vibrant literary tradition that interrogates identity, belonging, and cultural negotiation. Within this body of work, feminist voices have emerged as powerful agents of resistance and reclamation, challenging patriarchal norms and reconfiguring diasporic subjectivity. This paper explores how Indian diasporic women writers articulate feminist consciousness and negotiate cultural identity through a postcolonial lens. It examines how their narratives reclaim silenced voices, resist hegemonic structures, and reimagine the self in hybrid, intercultural spaces.

Drawing on postcolonial feminist theory—particularly the works of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, and Homi K. Bhabha—this paper analyzes literary texts by Jhumpa Lahiri, Meena Alexander, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, and Bharati Mukherjee. These authors foreground the voices of diasporic women who navigate cultural dislocation, generational conflict, and gendered expectations. Their protagonists engage in acts of resistance through storytelling, memory, and linguistic hybridity, challenging dominant narratives of assimilation and victimhood. The texts reveal how feminist consciousness is not a static ideology but a dynamic process of self-articulation, shaped by migration, trauma, and cultural negotiation.

The study argues that Indian diasporic feminist literature functions as a site of postcolonial critique and cultural transformation. It expands the boundaries of feminist discourse by centering intersectional identities and emphasizing the importance of reclaiming voice in the face of erasure. Through narrative innovation and thematic depth, these works contribute to a more inclusive understanding of heroism, agency, and belonging in global literature. Ultimately, the paper positions diasporic feminist writing as a vital force in redefining postcolonial identity and resisting hegemonic structures across borders.