The Return of the Repressed: Freud’s Uncanny, Trauma, and of Diasporic Hybridity in Lahiri’s The Namesake

Abstract

Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake offers an intriguing course of events which resonate through the diasporic subject of Gogol Ganguli, the protagonist. The paper encompasses the application of Freudian theories of repression, identity formation, and the unconscious, intending to interpret cultural hybridity and displacement of immigrants inclusively. The study circulates around Gogol’s life, deciphering the multi layered conflicts between distinct cultures and identities. Contextualization of interdisciplinary theories that of Freud and post-colonial scholars like Homi K Bhabha, Julia Kristeva and Stuart Hall, work coherently to resolve the psychological enigma of diasporic subjects by examining a close association of memory, trauma, and personal aspirations.