Identity

Various researchers have discussed at length the story of Indians migrating to South Africa. There is quite a body of literature tracing the journey of Indians migrating to South Africa through different means. Through the different studies the question of ‘identity’ especially for Indians in South Africa, has been addressed time and again. South African Indian identity is the product of many different factors. Among the various factors that have led to the formation of this South Africa identity, perhaps the most significant is the media. Indians have been influenced with the Indian media, since the beginning of migration as indentured labour. This essay purports to analyze three types of Indian media that have been paramount in shaping Indian diasporic identity in South Africa: print media, especially newspapers; cinema, Bollywood; and social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Salman Rushdie has always been concerned with giving a voice to the voiceless, by giving the power of description to the disenfranchised, the migrant, i.e. a personage who is often central in his narratives. This paper looks at three of Rushdie's most important works, Midnight's Children, Shame and The Satanic Verses, (which draw heavily on the theme of migration) not only by examining his life, but also through a critical analysis of his deliberate attempt to write in a particular yet distinct kind of manner and language; the themes of "double identity", "divided selves" and the "shadow figures" in the three novels by him.

Diasporas are essentially travellers occupying an in-between space. In this context then, the idea of diaspora involves the idea of departure. This idea of departure however is often fraught with tension, anxiety, trauma, memory, separation, (dis)placement, (dis)location and (dis)ease.The paper thereby is an attempt to explore this idea of diaspora using Vijay Mishra's idea of diasporic imaginary to examine Indian diasporic communities. In doing this, the paper will use Subhash Ghai's movie Pardes (1997) as a trope to further understand concepts of 'old' and 'new' diaspora