Author: Nitika Wadhwa, Dr. Apoorva Hooda

Abstract: The diasporic Indian women's fiction is a critical reflection of the gendered fact in the diaspora as dictated by the migration, cultural memory, and social expectations. This paper will discuss how marriage and sisterhood have helped in shaping the diasporic identity in For Matrimonial Purposes by Kavita Daswani and in Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Although Daswani introduces marriage as a culturally controlled organization that organizes the lives of women in immigrant communities, Divakaruni foreshadows sisterhood and emotional connections as other places of self-determination and strength. The paper utilizes the diaspora theory and feminist criticism in the argument that even though diasporic identity is formed by displacement, it is equally formed by emotional negotiation and relations. For Matrimonial Purposes shows the strains of cultural harmony and parental domination, and marriage is shown to be a place of constraint and a place of stealthy subversion. Contrary to that, Sister of My Heart stresses women's unity, which can help women to redefine identity outside the expectations imposed by society. Collectively, the novels show that marriage and sisterhood are parallel but opposing structures upon which diasporic women are building identity. The paper comes to a conclusion that modern Indian women's fiction is a reflection of the diasporic social realities that show the active participation of women in reconstructing identity in the culturally hybrid space.

Keywords: Diaspora, Marriage, Sisterhood, Displacement, Cultural memory.

Article Info: Received: 09 Feb 2026; Received in revised form: 10 Mar 2026; Accepted: 14 Mar 2026; Available online: 17 Mar 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.112.26