Author: Anjila, Dr. Shashi Goyal

Abstract: This paper analyses the interconnected themes of displacement and reinvention in Bharati Mukherjee's Desirable Daughters (2002) by highlighting how migration transforms identity across personal, cultural, and historical dimensions. This paper situates the novel within the broader context of diaspora studies, contending that Mukherjee reconceptualises displacement not solely as a state of loss, but as an active arena for self-creation. The narrative follows Tara Bhattacharjee's transition from a conventional, upper-caste Bengali upbringing in Calcutta to an unstable yet emancipating existence in the United States. This geographical shift undermines established norms of gender, marriage, and family, prompting Tara to scrutinise the myths that previously defined her sense of belonging. The paper argues that reinvention in the novel is neither smooth nor celebratory; instead, it manifests through fragmentation, memory, and a confrontation with both past and present. Mukherjee’s complex narrative structure intertwines ancestral histories with modern diasporic experiences, illustrating the ongoing negotiation of identity between cultural memory and personal agency. Through an examination of the tensions between tradition and autonomy, as well as homeland and hostland, the study illustrates how Desirable Daughters convey displacement as a continuous process of ethical and emotional reconstruction. The novel, therefore, posits reinvention as a means of survival and a form of creative self-assertion in a transnational context.

Keywords: Myth, Memory, Diaspora, Displacement, Tradition.

Article Info: Received: 08 Feb 2026; Received in revised form: 06 Mar 2026; Accepted: 09 Mar 2026; Available online: 12 Mar 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.112.10