Author: Preetha R, J. Balasubramaniam

Abstract: Bharati Mukherjee's Desirable Daughters presents the experiences of migration, cultural negotiation, and personal transformation through the perspective of Tara Chatterjee Bhattacharjee. The novel is particularly significant for its use of internal focalization, which allows readers to perceive events through Tara's consciousness and subjective understanding. This paper examines how internal focalization functions as a narrative strategy in the construction of identity in the novel. Drawing upon Gérard Genette's concept of focalization and later narratological developments by Mieke Bal and Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, the study analyses the relationship between narrative perspective and identity formation. Through Tara's memories, reflections, and interpretations, the novel presents identity as a dynamic process shaped by migration, family history, cultural displacement, and self discovery. The study argues that internal focalization is not merely a technical narrative device but a structural principle through which Mukherjee explores the complexities of diasporic identity. The paper demonstrates that the reader's understanding of characters, events, and cultural realities is mediated through Tara's evolving consciousness, making identity an ongoing process of negotiation rather than a fixed condition.

Keywords: Bharati Mukherjee, Desirable Daughters, Internal Focalization, Narratology, Identity, Diaspora

Article Info: Received: 23 May 2026; Received in revised form: 21 Jun 2026; Accepted: 25 Jun 2026; Available online: 29 Jun 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.113.83