Anita Desai as a Diasporic Writer – An Analysis

Abstract

Anita Desai is one of the most significant figures in Indian English literature, known for her deep psychological insight, lyrical prose, and compelling portrayals of alienation and identity. This paper explores Desai’s literary identity through the lens of diasporic literature, examining how her themes of displacement, cultural hybridity, rootlessness, and psychological exile resonate within the diasporic discourse. While Desai herself is not a typical diasporic writer in terms of physical dislocation, her characters frequently inhabit psychological landscapes of estrangement and existential rootlessness, echoing the diasporic sensibility. Through an analysis of select novels such as Bye-Bye Blackbird, The Zigzag Way, and Journey to Ithaca, this paper argues that Desai occupies a unique space in diasporic literature—one that bridges the inner diaspora of the soul with external realities of migration and cultural fragmentation.