30th Annual Student Research Conference
Visions of Home: Variations on Nostalgia in Sam Selvon and Agha Shahid Ali
Connor P. Maguire♦
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
This paper will examine the various ways in which nostalgia is portrayed in Sam Selvon’s Lonely Londoners and Agha Shahid Ali’s Half-Inch Himalayas. The different ways in which homesickness functions for an exile/emigre is explored through the works of two diasporic writers, one of the Indian diaspora and one of the West Indian/Caribbean diaspora. This paper seeks to problematize the definition of home and create a greater understanding of the complex relationship between the exile/emigre, their country of origin, and their current country of residence. A postcolonial theoretical perspective is utilized throughout the paper to better situate the discussions surrounding home and nostalgia.
Keywords: nostalgia, postcolonial, diaspora, emigre, exile
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 401-2
Location: MG 1000
Time: 2:45