Body, Memory and Diasporic Identity in Meena Alexander's Fault Lines

Abstract

In this paper I argue that memory assumes a distinctive role as a trope for performance of diasporic identity. I trace the function of memory and relate it to the body to indicate a correlation with ethnic identity. The issue of memory and its relation to ethnic identity becomes clearer upon understanding its variable influence over one's sense of self. Ethnic identity in such a case becomes dynamic and seems able to transform itself into newer, different forms after registering, acknowledging and finally coming to terms with past identities. Past identities are transfigured through memory. Remembering thus becomes an act of self-transformation. I posit that through remembering and even creating her own memories from the past, the female ethnic self succeeds in relating the past to her present and extend this relation to future. The gaps and fissures in memory and conscious, as well as unconscious attempts to forget past incidents also help in assertion of the current self. Memory becomes a process whereby a subject narrates the past and eventually gains a sense of agency and power over the world inhabited by her. Memory thus successfully becomes a mode of performance of identity.