In this paper, the themes of diasporic identity, feminine consciousness, and cultural negotiation are discussed in the chosen works of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Divakaruni uses her novels and short stories to depict the plight of Indian women not only in their native country but also in other countries and how patriarchal systems, social values, and cultural demands shape their identity. Her stories have a combination of magical realism, folklore and mythology in describing the psychological and emotional world of women who experience different cultural realities. The paper focuses on how the characters, such as Tilo in The Mistress of Spices and Draupadi in The Palace of Illusions, manoeuvre their place in the family, society, and diaspora, which demonstrates the problem of gender and identity in general. The works by Divakaruni focus on the conflict between assimilation and the preservation of culture and therefore, reflect on the issue of the immigrants in balancing their ancestral culture with the new surroundings. Through the feminist literary theory, the paper will examine how feminine consciousness has changed, how the feminine has been oppressed to a position of recognizing itself and being empowered. Finally, Divakaruni fiction gives a complex understanding of the psychological, social, and cultural realities of women and provides some insights on gender, culture, and diaspora interrelations in modern literature.
Chaturvedi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.