Sadia Shepard's Memoir <i>The Girl From Foreign</i>: A quest for cultural roots

Abstract

The primary objective of this research is to investigate the ineffectiveness of searching for cultural roots in Sadia Shepard's literary work, A Girl from  Foreign, and its correlation with the narrator's sense of dislocation and rootlessness. The researcher has utilized the perspective of diaspora and  postcolonialism to analyze the protagonist's journey from America to India in pursuit of her cultural roots. The study entails a thorough analysis of the  novel to identify the narrator's motivations, experiences, and discoveries. The findings indicate that the narrator's quest for cultural roots is bound to fail  due to her mixed cultural upbringing and lack of a sense of belonging. The protagonist's journey to India to explore her family history and ancestry leads  to a distressing realization of her Jewish and Muslim religious background. The research demonstrates that the narrator's feeling of rootlessness and dislocation in the foreign land is the driving force behind her search for cultural roots. In conclusion, the study affirms that the search for cultural roots is  an evasive and ultimately futile undertaking in Sadia Shepard's The Girl from Foreign. The narrator's experiences underscore the intricacies of cultural  identity and the challenges of reconciling numerous cultural influences. The research also emphasizes the significance of comprehending the effects of  diaspora and post colonialism on cultural identity and the search for roots.