Identity Crisis and Cultural Displacement in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's ‘The Mistress of Spices’

Abstract

One of the most important contributions to diasporic literature in recent times is Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s ‘The Mistress of Spices’, as it balances magical realism with immigrant struggles. This paper examines how this novel evokes cultural hybridity, self-reinvention, and the tension between tradition and modernity within the larger group of Indian diasporic narratives. The study compares Divakaruni’s protagonist, Tilo, with Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake and Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine to show how Tilo represents the immigrant paradox of wanting agency for the self while being constrained by cultural heritage. Whereas Lahiri presents a realistic portrayal of immigrants struggling in the new land, Divakaruni uses symbolism and myth to outline the exile and the shattered identities of diasporic people. Likewise, although Mukherjee’s Jasmine undergoes radical self-reinvention, Tilo’s transformation is still linked to ancestral traditions and mystical obligations. The ultimate question the novel wrestles with is whether cultural heritage helps a person belong or hinders self-determination. Although some critics accuse ‘The Mistress of Spices’ of exoticizing Indian culture through the use of mysticism, the novel still serves as a fascinating treatment of migration, the self, and memory. Divakaruni’s book bargains the intricate dialogues of cultural assimilation, and broadens the boundaries of diasporic narrating, and it presents the delicate analysis of identity construction in immigrant people.