Identity Crisis through an Eclectic Lens: A Review of Gurnah and Lahiri

Abstract

This paper tries to present the readers with a composite reflection of the identity crisis portrayed in Abdulrazak Gurnah and Jhumpa Lahiri's novels. Our study examines the issues of rootlessness and identity crisis faced by the immigrants of America, the African people, and the inhabitants of the Gulf. Gurnah and Lahiri have justly described the confused conditions of their characters in their novels in the postcolonial era. The authors' creative worlds employ the themes of alienation, immigration, and homelessness in their novels as the country's people cannot comprehend the newly displaced and disposed condition in their host land. Gurnah and Lahiri are immigrant novelists speaking about the problems and crises the expatriates face in their new host lands. Gurnah comes from Zanzibar and goes to Britain, whereas Lahiri comes from Britain and goes to America. Thus, the writers give a holistic and comprehensive picture of the identity crisis faced by the immigrants of the said countries, which have not yet been dealt with by the researchers.