CADERNO DE RESUMOS II Congresso Internacional da ... - Unesp

II Congresso Internacional da ABRAPUIrepresentation as a different perspective in literature, [in casehere, the perspective of black mothers]. Taking into account thatHirsch brings to light this important figure [the mother] thatwas left aside from criticism such as narratology. In the interweavingof cultural, psychological and literary elements, my reading showshow the novels dramatize the role of mothers in some differentsocial and cultural moments in the history of the United States.Keywords: Mother; Race; Literature.At the Crossroads of Culture in Jhumpa Lahiri?s TheNamesakeLuis Alfredo Fernandes de Assis (UFMG)Jhumpa Lahiri?s The Namesake (2003) presents a group ofcharacters from urban India who is placed at the crossroads ofcultures. Critics such as Brenda Yeoh associate these immigrantswith the concept of transnationalism. According to Yeoh,transnationalism is a state where a person lives dual lives: speakingtwo languages, having homes in two countries. And transnationalismis one of the key elements in this novel: the story opens withthe Gangulis? moving from Calcutta to Cambridge, Massachusetts.As the couple settles in America, they have two children. Inthis paper I aim at discussing the difficulty for a first-generationIndian family, the couple, to ?accept? the American culture andits consequences thoroughly, or a forced Westernization, as wellas the struggles of the second-generation, their children, to managetwo distinct cultures that are both theirs. I will also apply MaryLouise Pratt?s concept of the ?contact zone? to examine therelation of social space between two different cultures as theymeet one another. And the Indians professionals in Lahiri?snovel are also trying to manage Homi Bhabha?s ?in-between?spaces. The paper concludes by suggesting that the heritage ofpostcolonialism manifests itself with characters exploring theconsequences of emigration through bicultural experiences andbeing forced to choose between assimilation, isolation, and evenmarginalization.277