Negotiating Marriage in Diaspora: Modernity, Miscommunication, and Emotional Estrangement in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake

Abstract

The paper focuses on the issue of marriage negotiation under the influence of modernity, cultural displacement, and constant miscommunication, which results in the estrangement of spouses at the emotional level. Considering the marital relationships within the novel, the paper argues that Lahiri does not simply portray marriage as a personal connection, but rather as a point where tradition and modern values come into conflict and contact. These tensions are magnified by the immigrant experience, whereby characters find it difficult to balance the cultural requirements of their ancestors with the emotional requirements of a contemporary individualized culture. The paper examines the role of silence, restraint, and unspoken expectations in marital interactions through close textual analysis and how emotional distance is created in such a way that it does not involve overt conflict, but instead builds up. Miscommunication has not only become a failure of language but also a result of the difference in emotional vocabularies due to different cultures, gender roles, and experiences of generations. The paper places The Namesake in a more general context of the diaspora and modernity, postulating that emotional alienation in marriage indicates a more general state of cultural in-betweenness. Through an artistic and relational perspective of The Namesake, this paper reveals how Lahiri criticizes both the traditional and modern ideals of marriage and how intimacy in a diasporic setting needs not assimilation or rebellion, but enduring emotional translation across generations, cultures, and personal histories.