Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music

This paper illustrates how Meena Alexander explores the prospect of outgrowing the sense of rootlessness of Asian immigrants in America in Manhattan Music. According to her it is managed by vocational and social engagements, and bonding with fellow expatriates. Alienation, search for identity and...

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Main Authors:	Krishnamoorthy, Ramesh, Krishnamurthy, B.
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10694/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10694/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10694/1/10891-39659-1-PB.pdf

id	ukm-10694
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-106942017-10-02T00:03:23Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10694/ Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music Krishnamoorthy, Ramesh Krishnamurthy, B. This paper illustrates how Meena Alexander explores the prospect of outgrowing the sense of rootlessness of Asian immigrants in America in Manhattan Music. According to her it is managed by vocational and social engagements, and bonding with fellow expatriates. Alienation, search for identity and emotional insecurity of immigrants have hitherto been the dominant themes of diasporic literature. However, in the context of globalisation the concept of ‘home’ as a giver of emotional security cries for a redefinition. Meena Alexander’s Manhattan Music analyses the impact of transplantation from natal to post-marital space in the lives of women characters. Sandhya Rosenblum, Draupadi Dinkins, Sakhi and a few others despite the differences in their upbringing, experience the trauma of dislocation at first, but outgrow the same. Sandhya wrestles between her conflicting roles, a mother in New York and a daughter revisiting India, and in neither does she feel at home. But after her recovery from the shock of suicide, she escapes from racial thinking. It constitutes a rebirth of self for her. Similarly, Draupadi, the alter-ego of Sandhya, comes to realise being an American is only a part of her Self. Meena Alexander’s central vision in all her writings is the need of the immigrants for adapting themselves to the changed environment to find meaning in their lives. In Manhattan Music, the writer emphasises this idea by portraying Sandhya’s inner conflict in her adopted country at first and later her awakening to the truth that we all have several “homes” or as Homi Bhabha suggests we have to “desire for social solidarity: I am looking for the join…I want to join…I want to join.” (Bhabha 1994, p.18) Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10694/1/10891-39659-1-PB.pdf Krishnamoorthy, Ramesh and Krishnamurthy, B. (2016) Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 22 (2). pp. 81-90. ISSN 0128-5157 http://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/807
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	This paper illustrates how Meena Alexander explores the prospect of outgrowing the sense of rootlessness of Asian immigrants in America in Manhattan Music. According to her it is managed by vocational and social engagements, and bonding with fellow expatriates. Alienation, search for identity and emotional insecurity of immigrants have hitherto been the dominant themes of diasporic literature. However, in the context of globalisation the concept of ‘home’ as a giver of emotional security cries for a redefinition. Meena Alexander’s Manhattan Music analyses the impact of transplantation from natal to post-marital space in the lives of women characters. Sandhya Rosenblum, Draupadi Dinkins, Sakhi and a few others despite the differences in their upbringing, experience the trauma of dislocation at first, but outgrow the same. Sandhya wrestles between her conflicting roles, a mother in New York and a daughter revisiting India, and in neither does she feel at home. But after her recovery from the shock of suicide, she escapes from racial thinking. It constitutes a rebirth of self for her. Similarly, Draupadi, the alter-ego of Sandhya, comes to realise being an American is only a part of her Self. Meena Alexander’s central vision in all her writings is the need of the immigrants for adapting themselves to the changed environment to find meaning in their lives. In Manhattan Music, the writer emphasises this idea by portraying Sandhya’s inner conflict in her adopted country at first and later her awakening to the truth that we all have several “homes” or as Homi Bhabha suggests we have to “desire for social solidarity: I am looking for the join…I want to join…I want to join.” (Bhabha 1994, p.18)
format	Article
author	Krishnamoorthy, Ramesh Krishnamurthy, B.
spellingShingle	Krishnamoorthy, Ramesh Krishnamurthy, B. Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music
author_facet	Krishnamoorthy, Ramesh Krishnamurthy, B.
author_sort	Krishnamoorthy, Ramesh
title	Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music
title_short	Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music
title_full	Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music
title_fullStr	Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music
title_full_unstemmed	Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music
title_sort	rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of meena alexander’s manhattan music
publisher	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate	2016
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10694/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10694/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10694/1/10891-39659-1-PB.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:58:13Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:58:13Z
_version_	1777406672793239552

Rebirth of self and identity: an analysis of Meena Alexander’s Manhattan music

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