2017 Student Research Conference:
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

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♦ Indicates Truman Graduate Student
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