Transculturalism.docx

Transcultural Identities in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Before We Visit the Goddess
Abstract*
Transculturalism is characterized by cross cultural associations, fusions and convolution leading to the formulation of a novel cosmopolitan culture. Transculturalism acts as a unifying force of cultural diversity that not only brings together different cultures but also creates a new common culture. It is emerging in various fields of literary studies, films, theatre, architecture, music and anthropology.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni can be deemed as one of the most paramount writers of transcultural literature. She is internationally acclaimed as a poet, novelist, short story writer and editor. The predominant propositions of her fiction are immigration, diaspora, history, myth, and cultural diversity along with an integration of major social concerns that are prevalent in contemporary society. The most recent addition to Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's outstanding literary oeuvre is the novel Before We Visit the Goddess, published in the year 2016. It is a transcultural novel with characters from diverse cultural backgrounds. It deals with the manner in which people of different cultures interact with each other, and form transcultural friendships. The exposure of characters to divergent cultures helps them in overcoming the barriers that separate people on grounds of dissimilarities and enables them to undergo complex transmutations of culture, which leads to transculturalism and the creation of new identities. The themes of female bonding, familial relationships and cross cultural friendships is also conspicuous in the novel. This research paper attempts to analyse the transcultural aspects prevalent in the novel and the manner in which these aspects lead to the development of transcultural identities.
Key Words: Transculturalism, cross cultural encounters, transcultural friendships, multiculturalism, identity.
Dr.AbhaPandey, Prof. and Head, Department of English , Govt. Mahakoshal Arts & Commerce Autonomous College, Jabalpur and
Betsy Mathew, Research Scholar, RDVV, Jabalpur






















Dr.AbhaPandey,
Prof. and Head,
Department of English
Govt. Mahakoshal Arts & Comm.
Autonomous College, Jabalpur.
&
Betsy Mathew
Research Scholar
RDVV, Jabalpur

Transcultural Identities in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Before We Visit the Goddess
Transculturalism "is a new aspect of cultural development which transcends the border of traditional, national, racial, gender and professional cultures" (Prodhani 3)It is a contemporary theory of culture that transcends the constraints of the conventional conception of culture. Transculturalism is emerging in various fields of literary studies, films, theatre, architecture, music and anthropology. It is characterized by cross cultural associations, fusions and convolution leading to the formulation of a novel cosmopolitan culture. Transculturalism acts as a unifying force of cultural diversity that not only brings together different cultures but also creates a new common culture.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni can be deemed as one of the most paramount writers of transcultural literature. She is internationally acclaimed as a poet, novelist, short story writer and editor. The predominant propositions of her fiction are immigration, diaspora, history, myth, and cultural diversity along with an integration of major social concerns that are prevalent in contemporary society. Her novels portray myriad of characters from different geographical locations, though the pivotal characters of her works are Indian immigrants.
Dr.Vibha in her article "Second Generation Immigrants: Negotiating Contested Identities in Divakaruni's Queen of Dreams" states:
Divakaruni's fiction accounts for a trans-cultural project. In her works one can consider that writing is understood as a way of recovering and intercommunicating cultures, but also as an open proposal that suggests another sort of creation that goes beyond fetish dichotomies between native and foreign traces, local and universal, past and present. (504)
Through her writings Divakaruni aspires to break the barriers that segregate people on the grounds of culture, ethnicity, age and geographical locations. Her affinity to immigration plays a major role in creating and exquisitely portraying immigrant characters. She deftly portrays the struggles, dilemmas, ambitions, and apprehensions of immigrants in a foreign land and their nostalgia for homeland.
Before We Visit the Goddess (2016) is an immaculate book from Divakaruni's pen. It is a family saga, unravelling the lives of three generations of women across India and America. It probes into the familial bond shared by Sabitri the grandmother, her daughter Bela and Bela's daughter Tara. The theme of the novel is the quest to succeed in life and achieve an identity for themselves "without having to depend on anyone" (208). The themes of female bonding, familial relationships and cross cultural friendships are also conspicuous in the novel. This research paper attempts to analyse the transcultural aspects prevalent in the novel and the manner in which these aspects lead to the development of transcultural identities.
The novel covers a span of fifty seven years, taking the readers from Sabitri's childhood to the year 2020. Sabitri was the daughter of a humble sweet maker in a remote village near Kolkata who aspired to graduate, though college education was inaccessible taking into account their financial condition.However, an influential and affluent woman named Leelamoyi agrees to pay her college fees. Sabitri acquires an admission in a college and moves to Leelamoyi's house in Kolkata where she was neither a servant nor a family member. She faces all misery with the hope to complete her education. She always remembers her mother's words while biding her farewell that "Good daughters are fortunate lamps, brightening the family's name" (11).
Sabitri commits the consequential mistake of falling in love with Leelamoyi's son Rajiv. When Leelamoyi discovers this clandestine affair, she sends Rajiv away from home and throws Sabitri out of the house. Bijan, her Maths professor helps her out in this arduous time and within a year she gets married to him. After her marriage Sabitri gives up her education, which she regrets all her life. Her contented married life is devastated when Bijan comes to know of her past affair. After Bijan's death in an accident Sabitri takes the reins of her life in her hands and opens a sweet shop and names it after her mother, Durga Sweets. She endures all hardships to be successful so that she can look after her daughter Bela.
Sabitri's story is unveiled for the readers through a letter that she writes to her granddaughter Tara, to forbid her from giving up her education. Like Sabitri, her daughter Bela, too has her fair share of mistakes that she regrets all her life. She elopes with her boyfriend Sanjay to America, breaks all ties with her mother and never goes back to India; however she does not get the happy life that she dreamed of. Her marriage ends in a divorce and a strained relationship with her daughter Tara.
Divakaruni believes that a writer should have a social conscience, and must truthfully portray the society. Divakaruni skilfully sketches the lives of South Asian immigrants who are endeavouring to be prosperous in America. One of the major themes of her works is the lives of immigrants in a foreign land who are overwhelmed by old and new values. They are in between two worlds and are engaged in carving out their identities in the new place. Most of the pivotal characters in her works transform in the course of the story, and rediscover themselves. Quest for identity and liberation of women from subjugation, physical violence, and psychological oppression is a recurrent theme of her novels.
The novel depicts Bela's immigrant life in America. She was entirely dependent on her husband till her divorce, but when her husband walks out of her life she finds herself in a dire state with nowhere to turn to. This is when she meets Kenneth, who is half her age and lives in the same apartment as her. She tells Kenneth, "all this time I was a full time wife and mother… now I've been fired from both jobs" (141).At the pretext they have nothing in common, nothing that can click a friendship between them. Kenneth is a gay who was in relationship with another American David, their relationship disrupted as David leaves Kenneth.Once she invites Kenneth for dinner and eventually they start meeting each week for dinner.
Kenneth gives Bela the emotional support that she needed helps her to find a job. Realising Bela's flair for cooking, he arranges some live cooking demonstrations for her on the weekends. Initially she is apprehensive but Kenneth helps her to overcome her fears and become more confident with her live demonstrations. He inspires Bela to write a blog and suggests the name 'Bela's Kitchen' for it. With the guidance and support from Kenneth she starts a blog and ameliorates into a famous cook book author.
All the while Bela and Kenneth were friends; Bela was unaware of the fact that Kenneth was gay. Despite the years that she spends in America, she could not pick up the signs that hinted Kenneth's sexual orientation. While she was married to Sanjay, she never got an opportunity to interact with the Americans and she was living in her own shell. This new found friendship was her window to the American culture. Kenneth describes their relationship in the following words "I was unsure as to how to classify our relationship. We were friends but also something else…I found myself speaking to Mrs.Dewan the way I might have to an older sister or a favourite aunt" (144)
This cross-cultural friendship changes Bela's life forever. The transcending of cultural boundaries helped Bela to see apart of herself that she didn't even knew existed. When exposed to a foreign culture through Kenneth she was able to transcend her cultural limitations and transculturate by creating a new identity for herself. By cross cultural encounters there has taken place a complex transmutation of her identity as a woman. She has been lifted from her state of despair and succeeds in life.
If Bela was a difficult daughter to Sabitri, Tara is much more troublesome than her mother. Tara has never visited India; she stays away from her community as she thinks that she has nothing in common with the Indians. Her physical appearance too states that she is far from anything Indian with "spiky dyed hair and a ring through her eyebrow (and a stud…pinned to the centre of her tongue)" (121). Dr. Venkatachalapathi, whom she drives to the airport, describes her in the following words:
She was a puzzle, with her Indian features and Texan Boots, her defiant piercings, the skin stretched thin across her cheekbones and crumpled under the eyes. And that spiky hair, now fallen limp as a child's over her forehead. He had read somewhere that it was a style that lesbians affected. What kind of Indian family, even in America, would produce such a hybrid? (124)
Tara was born to both Indian parents but there is very little that is Indian in her. Her parent divorce had a distressing effect on her. She suffers from the psychological disorder of Kleptomania, wherein she not able to refrain from stealing stuff. There is a void in her that she is trying to fill by stealing stuff from others that shows their happiness.
Bela identifies herself as an American; her chance encounter with Dr. Venkatachalapathi who came from India, brings a substantial change in her. Tara had never visited a temple before but does so reluctantly to accompany Dr. Venkatachalapathi. On visiting the temple, she immediately realises that she doesn't belong there. Yet she is interested to learn what the temple and the rituals signify. Even though she has broken all ties with her parents, family is the only thing that her heart yearns for. When Tara shares her past with Dr. Venkatachalapathi, he tells her how he lost his daughter. He also encourages her to resume her studies and become independent in life. The grief that they harbour in their hearts helps them to understand and empathise with each other. This chance cross cultural encounter with the thoroughly Indian Dr. Venkatachalapathi, brings a substantial change in Tara and she receives the guidance and direction that she missed in her life. Soon after which she reconciles with her mother, resumes her studies and even gets married. Tara becomes a transcultural, imbibing in her the Indian as well as American cultural values.
Another character who came across as a complete transcultural character is Mrs. Mehta. Tara had consented to look after the aged Mrs. Mehta whose son and Daughter –in- law had gone out during the weekend. When Tara is leaving for work Mrs. Mehta accompanies her on the assurance that she would sit quietly in a corner. When she reaches the shop she starts shopping for Western clothes and even tries them on:
The Western clothes suit Mrs. Mehta surprisingly well. Along with the frump cotton sari, she seems to have shed several years…I clap loudly and whistle. Blanca joins me. Keysha cheers. A shy, girlish smile breaks out on Mrs. Mehta's face after that there is no stopping her. (64)
Mrs. Mehta buys a lot of Western clothes like a leopard print skirt, jeans, capri etc. surprisingly she increases the sales that day by directing the customers to the right spots. Mr. Lawry, the owner of the store, offers her a job for the next day and asks her out on a date lunch. Blanca gives her a new haircut. All these changes in a day reveal the process of transculturation for someone who has never stepped out of the house. Mrs. Mehta shows how easy transition is from one culture to another. One just needs to be open minded and accept the good in every culture.
Before We Visit the Goddess is yet another transcultural novel by Chitra Banerjee that spans through the remote villages of Kolkata to San Francisco in America. As a transcultural author Divakaruni believes that people of different cultures can exist together in harmony:
It always fascinates me the way cultures are different and shape us in different ways, and yet I love discovering things at the heart of each culture that are human and timeless. One of my hopes for all my books is that they will bring people of different cultures together in a common understanding of human frailty, desire, and love – which are all very similar, no matter which culture we are born in. (Chitra Banerjee Interview)
Sabitri, Bela and Tara overcome the challenges of life, and leave the mistakes of the past behind. They succeed in life by striving to achieve their dreams, against all odds. Characters like Bela, Tara and Mrs. Mehta undergo complex transmutations of culture. They are willing to accept new cultural values and create a new identity which is formed by an amalgamation of diverse cultural values. Through this novel Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni reveals how cross cultural encounters lead to transcultural friendships and the way the characters change in the course of these friendships.
In today's world of interconnectedness and permeations, the way we comprehend culture has to change. Instead of emphasizing the cultural differences we should look out for similarities and common cultural aspects that we share with others. A conscious ebb and flow of interculturality between diverse cultures will lead to transculturalism and this can be achieved through interaction between people of diverse cultural background.The characters of her novel exhibit the cultural values of both India and America and are transcultural. Through her fiction, Divakaruni has tried to blur the boundaries that separate people on the grounds of race, culture, and nationalities. The innate humanity that is universal in the whole world is brought out by the author in her writing.





Work Cited
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. Before We Visit the Goddess. U.K: Simon and Schuster, 2016.
---. Interview.Before We Visit the Goddess Author Interview.

Prodhani, MJA, S.MBasha, and Mir Farida. Transculturalism: A Critique. Assam: North West Indian Publication, 2012.
Vibha. "Second Generation Immigrants: Negotiating Contested Identities in Divakaruni'sQueen of Dreams". Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) Volume III Issue III (2015). 503-508. Web. 23 January 2016.