Tuesday, 28 March: Indian & Pakistani American Literature

·        Fiction-nonfiction dialogue: Karol Davis

Fiction: “A Wife’s Story”; Nonfiction: “Love Me or Leave Me”

Bharati Mukherjee, a first generation Indian-American writer, was born in 1940 into a Hindu Brahmin family in Calcutta. Her father moved the family to England in 1947. When she was 20 years old, she came to America to study at the University of Iowa. Her father decided to find a suitable husband in India, but Bharati fell in love with and married a Canadian, Blaise Clark. They lived in Canada for a few years where Bharati suffered much discrimination. The couple came back to the U.S. in 1980.

Fiction Markers in “The Wife’s Story”

1.      The story moves rapidly.

2.      The traditional Indian wife would not :

a.       Be allowed to live away from her husband, especially in another country.

b.      Be allowed to go anywhere with a man other than her husband.

c.       Be allowed to handle money for her husband.

3.      The story is first person narrative.

Nonfiction Markers in “The Wife’s Story”

The story contains references to real people, places, and things: Glengary Glen Ross, David Mamet, Con Ed, the Statue of Liberty, the Twin Towers, New York City, Bombay, Ahmadabad.

Fiction Markers in “Love Me or Leave Me”

The story moves rapidly.

Nonfiction Markers in “Love Me or Leave Me”

1. The story has little dialogue except for her conversations with her sister and an immigration official.

2. The story contained references to real people, places, and things: Calcutta, New York City, Iowa, Canada, The University of Iowa, Air India, Ruth Etting, Marty Snyder, Doris Day, “Que Sera Sera”

Questions:

1.      Do you think that Mukherjee lost touch with her Indian family when she married a Canadian?

2.      Does the American dominant culture give Indian Americans a chance to be assimilated if they choose?