https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i3.015
Diaspora, Migration, and Border Narratives in the Melody Sphere of the Indian Subcontinent
DESAI SHREYA RAJESHBHAI
Ph.D. Scholar
School of Languages
Department of English
Gujarat University, Ahmedabad
PROF. (DR.) BHARTI DAVE
Principal
M.P. Arts and M.H. Commerce College for Women, Ahmedabad
Abstract: Migration and diaspora are not merely demographic phenomena often studied through statistics and policies; they are also deeply emotional and psychological experiences. Their most profound impact lies in the inner life of the migrant, expressed through longing, memory, alienation, and desire. Memory studies in India have emerged as a significant field of academic inquiry, reflecting the nation’s complex historical and cultural landscape. This discipline explores the collective and individual memories that shape identities and narratives within the Indian context. Trauma, itself a contested concept, is generally understood as a severely disruptive experience that profoundly affects the self’s emotional organization and perception of the external world. Trauma studies examine the impact of trauma in literature and society by analysing its psychological, rhetorical, and cultural dimensions.
This paper explores exile as an emotional rupture, arguing that the homeland often survives only through recollection. It discusses temporal dislocation, refugee consciousness, and the notion of borderlessness, emphasizing that borders are artificial constructs and that refugees often inhabit liminal spaces. The study also addresses various forms of displacement, including internal exile within diasporic communities, where the global city becomes a site of loneliness. Further, it examines restorative nostalgia and the idealization of the past. These concepts are analysed through selected Indian songs such as “Chitthi Aayi Hai,” “Panchi Nadiya Pavan Ke Jhoke,” “Mitwa,” and “Aa Ab Laut Chalen,” using the theoretical frameworks of migration, borderlessness, fragmented identity, and restorative nostalgia. Drawing on the works of theorists such as Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha, and Svetlana Boym, the paper offers a new perspective for studying diaspora, migration, memory culture, and trauma theory. It contributes a fresh dimension to diasporic studies by examining these concerns through the lens of popular music.
Keywords: Diaspora, Memory and Trauma Studies, Exile, Refugee, Fragmented Identity, Restorative Nostalgia
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