Cultural Memory as a life sustainer: A Study on Homecoming Phera by
Taslima Nasreen
Ann Maria Jose C
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Vimala College [Autonomous]. Thrissur, Kerala
Affiliated to University of Calicut
Email: annmariajosec@gmail.com.
Ph: 9496857651
Cultural Memory defines places for individuals and groups. The memories associated
with particular places are reiterated by the actions that has taken place in those sites. These
memories are vital to groups or people even if they are forced to leave the place physically.
Jan Assmann, explains how the cultural memory defines the identity of a group or people..
This paper proposes to analyse how the cultural memory defines the identity of Kalyani, the
protagonist of the novel Homecoming Phera by Taslima Nasreen. The changes that she
perceives though with difficulty in the figures of memory gets attributed to the people around
these sites. Thus the gradual change in the cultural sites of memory and the identity of people
are interdependent. However in the novel, Kalyani is unwilling to accept that change has
occurred in these cultural sites which actually becomes her source of sustenance in the forced
migration situation.
Key Words: Cultural Memory, Memory, Migrants