UNDERSTANDING AND LIVING DIASPORA IN MICHAEL ONDAATJE’S RUNNING IN THE FAMILY AND AMITAV GHOSH’S THE SHADOW LINES

Contemporary times are placed under the rubric of postcoloniality and postmodernity and on many fronts it feels as if the world we are entering is anxious and dark. The uncertainties and newness we now confront prompt radical questions about ourselves: Where do we belong? How can we find a sense of self within this diversity and confusion? This article looks at two books, namely Michael Ondaatje’s Running in the Family and Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines. Though written in the 1980s, these texts still talk about our current realities and are profound studies of the condition of diaspora and how it affects individuals and communities. Both texts also seem to suggest alternative ways of belonging to the places and spaces of the world which are becoming increasingly complex with its overlaps of histories and cultures.