Ambivalence And Hybridity By Uma Parameswaran

To identify the uniqueness and generosity of a particular work of art, a scholar needs the aid of literary theory since it lays down certain principles of literature which describe the features and forms that make up the literary work. Post colonial writings reflect the socio symbolic dimensions of the changed culture. In general, Post colonial writing refers to the literature written after the end of colonial rule or the enforced mass migrations of the slave trade because of the impact of colonialism upon indigenous societies. Some critics feel that post colonialism is used both as literal description of colonial societies as well as the global condition after colonialism. Whatever it may be, it helps in the analysis of certain crucial

Uma Parameswaran a postcolonial writer discusses the lives and experiences of Indian immigrants in Canada who have registered their protest and their feelings against discrimination and the denial of their rights . Parameswaran’s protagonists are the victims of despair and loneliness in the host society. Through her writings the readers become aware not only of the South Asian experience but also of the struggles of the immigrants that make them more humane. This paper would discuss the Post colonial aspects like ‘ambivalence’ and ‘hybridity’which give a set of perspectives about the relation between ideas and practices, relations of harmony and conflict between different peoples and cultures the immigrants’ face in the course of their life. Uma Parameswarn’s writings comprised of different genres which include short stories, plays and poems with common themes which juxtapose her Western experience with the Indian realities. In her play named Dear Deedi, My Sister, she discusses the lives and experiences of Indian immigrants as they struggle hard to adjust and cope with the new atmosphere of the new land. In order to survive in the alien place, a school boy named Ilago from Philippines asks his mother to change his name to Jim or

Uma Parameswaran’s novel Mangoes on the Maple Tree and her poem Trishanku portray the ‘in-between’ condition of the immigrants. The immigrant children feel lonely in their schools even though they are in a crowd and they cry out in anguish. They have no freedom to take leave or speak against the system. Even jobs are denied to the immigrants .The instinct for survival is always the ultimate moving force for the immigrants but as time passes, there are series of mergers and divisions between the older and newer set of values and hence they form a hybrid society. For postcolonial writers the hybrid society has given a lot of exposure and makes the immigrants to adjust, adapt, to develop positive attitude as well as tolerance in the host society. S.Sujatha in her article on “Shifting Identities: Problems and Possibilities – A Study of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Fiction” has commented on the views of Homi. K.Bhabha regarding