Fragmented Roots and Relational Imaginaries in M.G. Vassanji’s A Place Within: Rediscovering India

Author(s)	Mr. Manoj Dongre, Dr. Neeta Lalwani
Country	India
Abstract	Diasporic writing has long functioned as a site of negotiation between displacement and belonging, memory and history, loss and recovery. Within this literary tradition, M.G. Vassanji occupies a significant position as a writer who intricately maps the emotional and cultural geographies of migration. His memoir A Place Within: Rediscovering India (2008) serves as a deep exploration of diasporic identity, where the author struggles with fragmented roots stemming from his East African upbringing and Indian heritage. This paper examines how Vassanji employs relational imaginaries, semi-imagined, fragmented ties to family, culture and history to steer the difficulties of belonging in a postcolonial and transnational context. It is an attempt to offer an insight into the fluid nature of home in diasporic life writing by transforming personal displacement into a broader explanation on hybrid identities through careful readings and comparative insights from diaspora studies.
Keywords	Diaspora, Relational Imaginary, Identity, Memory, Home
Field	Sociology > Linguistic / Literature
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 5, September-October 2025
Published On	2025-10-30
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i05.59117

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