Indian Knowledge Systems and Identity Crisis in Contemporary Society: A Study of Selected Works of Jhumpa Lahiri

Akanksha Nandagawali
Dr. Shubhashree Mukherjee
Research Scholar, Department of English
Kamla Nehru Mahavidyalaya, Nagpur
Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur

Abstract

Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) are deeply embedded in cultural practices such as family structures, traditions, language, and collective memory, all of which play a vital role in shaping individual identity. In contemporary society, forces such as globalization, migration, and Western modernity have significantly altered these systems, particularly for Indians living in diasporic contexts. This transformation often results in cultural alienation and identity crisis. Jhumpa Lahiri’s fiction provides a powerful literary representation of this phenomenon by portraying characters who struggle to negotiate their Indian cultural inheritance within Western social frameworks. This paper examines how the weakening of Indian Knowledge Systems under changing contemporary conditions leads to identity crisis in selected works of Jhumpa Lahiri. It further explores how cultural memory, familial bonds, and acceptance of hybrid identity emerge as possible solutions. By combining the conceptual framework of Indian Knowledge Systems with close literary analysis of Lahiri’s works, the study highlights the continuing relevance of Indian cultural knowledge in addressing identity conflicts in contemporary society.

DOI link – https://doi.org/10.69758/GIMRJ/2601S01V14P006