Representation and Interpretation of Diasporic Literary Texts: Socio-Cultural Effects on Non-Native Learners of English Literature

Diasporic literature is known for its representation of the two cultures in the same text. When a diasporic literary writer aims to write, he/she consciously represents two identities (native and non-native). This duality of representation is a part of his writing. The research aims at exploring that when a diasporic writer represents his associations with his native culture and the new land where he has been migrated, this representation affects the learners' minds. This research investigates how the representation of diasporic literary texts affects the socio-cultural norms of the non-native learners/readers of English literature. It has been proposed in this research that when a non-native learner reads and interprets an English text specifically written in the tradition of diasporic literature, he feels that the real picture of the natives has been blurred in the text. The interpretations and representations of diasporic literary texts directly affect the readers' understanding of their native culture because it portrays a hybrid culture. The writings of the diasporic writers represent the foreign as well as the native culture one at the same time because they have experience of two different cultures. Diasporic representation portrays a bi-cultural notion in the mind of the non-native learners of English literature. The researcher has provided two diasporic texts, Red Birds (2018) by Muhammad Hanif and The Sellout (2015) by Paul Beatty, to the postgraduate level students for interpretation. This study is purely qualitative, where data has been collected through classroom observation and interviews. A detailed analysis of the two texts' interpretation shows that when non-native learners are introduced to a foreign text, their native identity affects the understanding of that particular text.