Crossing Borders,and Cultivating Cosmopolitan Relations:A Study Of The Cosmopolitanism In Jhumpa Lahiri's Oeuvre

Jhumpa Lahiri(1967-),one of the most famous South Asian American women writers,follows many of her predecessors and writes about ethnic relationships and identification in a new globalized context.Characters in her four published books are somewhat in a different state of diaspora.Yet,current criticism of her writing is still limited to postcolonial interpretation,centering on characters' struggle of identification.Little attention has been given to the relationships between people and between self and other,which are in fact crucial for both individual's identification and probing human existence in a cosmopolitan world.Originated from Diogenes the Cynic in Ancient Greece,cosmopolitanism,as a modern concept,was articulated by Kant and finds its way into the academia in the 1990s.Since its focus has always being the relationship between one and another,and the identification of each individual in society and in the world,the theory of cosmopolitanism provides a new perspective for self-other relation in the works of ethnic minority writers.Starting from the analysis of postcolonial theory and the study of ethnicity,this thesis focuses on various human relationships in Lahiri's oeuvre from the perspective of cosmopolitanism.This thesis points out that Lahiri's characters embrace cosmopolitan identity by empathizing with the other and accepting cultural differences,through which they overcome national,cultural and racial borders and cultivate a hospitable world environment.This thesis first demonstrates that in Lahiri's stories ethnic relations in the U.S.,represented by the relationship between South Asian American and the American ethnic majority,are not in dichotomy.They have strong empathy with one another and are capable of understanding the other,from which they find common identity.They all pursue American dream with cosmopolitan ideals.This thesis then moves on to the relationships within the South Asian American community.Characters in Lahiri's oeuvre find their cultural identity and sense of belonging through dealing with both familiarity and strangeness from their family and community members who have similar cultural backgrounds.The cultural centripetal energies they acquire from familial and communal life help them overcome cultural barriers and accommodate to a global world.Thirdly,this thesis analyzes the relationships beyond the American border throughout the world.Border-crossing characters have become world citizens and connected America and South Asia,East and West.In particular,the global female bond constructed by women in diverse cultural backgrounds challenges traditional power structure and practices cosmopolitan solidarity.This thesis concludes that Jhumpa Lahiri explores the cosmopolitan self-other relation in a globalized world by zooming in and out on the ethnic relations between South Asian Americans and other people.She proposes that by exercising cosmopolitan hospitality and crossing borders,people,regardless of their ethnicity or cultural backgrounds,can find their identity so that they can better understand themselves and others,as well as the essence of human coexistence.