Food and Clothing as Cultural Metaphors in Select Diasporic Fictions

Food and Clothing as Cultural Metaphors in Select Diasporic Fictions

Author(s): Poorva Gulati & Shubhangi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12671520

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Volume 15 | Issue 3 | June 2024

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The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol. 15, Issue-III, June 2024 ISSN: 0976-8165
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
Food and Clothing as Cultural Metaphors in Select Diasporic Fictions
Poorva Gulati
PhD Research Scholar,
University School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.
&
Shubhangi
M.A. Student
University School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.
Article History: Submitted-03/06/2024, Revised-20/06/2024, Accepted-22/06/2024, Published-30/06/2024.
Abstract:
For immigrants, food and clothing are powerful symbols of connection to their cultural
roots, serving as tangible reminders of home and identity. Traditional recipes and culinary
practices become motifs for immigrants to maintain a connection to their cuisine, find comfort
and preserve their heritage. This connection also serves as a bridge between their past and
present, allowing them to maintain ties with their homeland. India is a land where spices are
not just ingredients; they are an integral part of its cultural, historical, and culinary heritage.
Immigrants can delve into the rich tapestry of flavours, aromas, and colours that define Indian
cuisine. Clothing serves as a marker of identity for immigrants and is a way to honour their
heritage, navigate their sense of belonging and express cultural pride. Clothes including sarees,
turban and dupattas make a statement about their identity, values, and roots, contributing to
the rich tapestry of diversity in their new land. The paper attempts to analyse Shauna Singh
Baldwin’s three short stories— “Rawalpindi 1919,” “Montreal 1962,” “Devika” and Chitra
Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices to analyse the significance of food and clothes
in the formation of culture and how immigrants diversely use food and clothes to retain their
lost culture, to resist and to assimilate into the new culture of the foreign land. The paper will
explore food and clothing as cultural signifiers that signify rootedness and rootlessness
simultaneously, territory and deterritorialized community culture, insiders and outsiders, and
the homeland and the host land. These binaries coalesce into the diasporic space—an in-
between space of contestation, disjuncture, and difference.
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Food and Clothing as Cultural Metaphors in Select Diasporic Fictions
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
Keywords: Immigrants, Food, Clothes, Culture, Metaphor, Assimilation, Resistance,
Contestation, Interaction with ‘other’, diaspora.
Shauna Singh Baldwin is a diaspora writer, born in Montreal, Canada, to Sikh parents
of Indian ancestry. From 1991-1994, she served as an independent radio producer hosting
“Sunno!” (Listen), “the Eastern-Indian-American Radio show where cultural identity was
explored beyond ethnic boundaries.” Baldwin is widely acknowledged in Canada and
worldwide for her works, which keenly capture the challenges and loyalties experienced by
individuals navigating different cultures in today’s modern world. Her writing explores themes
of identity, culture, and immigration, often drawing from her personal experiences and
historical contexts related to South Asia and the diaspora. Her collection of fifteen short stories,
English Lessons and the Other Stories, published in 1996, received the 1996 Friends of
American Writers Award which explores the themes of courage and adaptability necessary to
maintain an Indian identity while living in an English-speaking country. Praised for its rich
storytelling and nuanced portrayal of characters navigating life’s complexities, Baldwin’s
stories depict Indian women’s lives from 1919 to the present, spanning India, Canada, and
North America. Her narratives often delve into the immigrant experiences, family dynamics,
and the clash of traditions in the modern world. The first story in the collection “Rawalpindi
1919” reflects a mother’s concern about her child’s health and Sikh identity in a foreign land.
The story “Montreal 1962” explores the value of wearing a turban in a foreign country where
a wife grapples with the cultural values attributed to her husband’s turban and resists
assimilation. Despite her husband Ratan’s resistance, she endeavours to maintain her Indian
identity by dressing in traditional attire and cooking Indian food. Devika struggles to preserve
her identity amidst pressures to adopt Western culture. Throughout these narratives, clothing
and food serve as cultural metaphors in diasporic narratives signifying the struggle of
assimilation and resistance against a new cultural identity in a foreign land.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an Indian American author known for her fiction,
specializing in novels, short stories, and poetry that often explore themes of immigration,
identity, and the Indian American hybrid experience. She is acclaimed for works like The
Mistress of Spices, The Palace of Illusions, and Sister of My Heart. In 1996, she won an
American Book Award for her first short story collection, Arranged Marriage. Divakaruni’s
writing style is characterised by themes of magic realism, vivid imagery, lyrical prose, deep
emotional resonance, and even dreams. She has a gift for crafting intricate narratives that blend
elements of Indian mythology and culture with modern themes and experiences. Her prose is
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often poetic, and she pays great attention to detail, bringing her settings and characters to life
with rich descriptions. Divakaruni’s writing often explores complex relationships and inner
conflicts, making her work engaging and thought-provoking. The Mistress of Spices was
published in 1997 and tells the story of Tilo, a girl trained in the magic of spices who becomes
the Mistress of Spices. She uses her powers to help her customers with their problems but faces
consequences when she falls in love. Themes of love, duty, and the power of tradition are
explored in the novel.

Diasporic literature refers to writings by authors who are displaced from their homeland
and now reside in a different country and culture due to various reasons such as war, economic
opportunities and education. It often explores themes of identity, belonging, displacement, and
cultural hybridity. This genre encompasses a diverse range of voices and experiences,
reflecting the complexities of migration and the formation of new cultural identities. Writers
such as Anita Desai, Bharati Mukherjee, Jhumpa Lahiri and many others, have explored the
complexities faced by Indian immigrants living between two or more cultures. They grapple
with questions of identity, belonging, and cultural hybridity. Writers often depict the challenges
of adjusting to a new environment while maintaining ties to their roots, touching upon themes
of nostalgia, alienation, and the search for identity. Through their narratives, diasporic writers
offer insights into the human condition, emphasizing universal themes of love, loss, resilience,
and the quest for belonging. Their works serve as a bridge between different cultures, fostering
empathy, understanding, and appreciation for the richness of diversity in the global community.
A crucial component of cultural identity is traditional cuisine. The food itself, along
with related cooking methods and social mores, serves as a link to one’s historical and cultural
origins and preserves a remembrance of the past. Food is considered a part of the cultural
heritage passed down through the generations as a way of life. Essential components of cultural
legacy include customary cooking techniques, table manners, and recipes that symbolise the
ideals and worldviews of many communities. Food becomes a means of reconnecting with
one’s cultural heritage and finding a sense of belonging in a foreign land.
Clothing also serves as a bridge to one’s cultural traditions. More than just pieces of
fabric sewn together for protection, the clothes we wear serve as symbols of our culture and
identity. Communities have utilized clothing for generations to express solidarity,
commemorate significant occasions, and convey social standing, among many other purposes.
In diasporic literature, food and clothing often serve as powerful cultural metaphors,
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symbolizing identity, heritage, and the complexities of assimilation. Food represents cultural
traditions, family ties, and the comforts of home, while clothing signifies cultural identity,
social status, and the negotiation of belonging in a new environment. Authors use these
metaphors to explore themes such as nostalgia, cultural preservation, and the challenges of
cultural adaptation. Food and clothing serve as rich and evocative metaphors in diasporic
literature, allowing authors to delve into the complexities of cultural identity and the
experiences of diasporic communities in a globalized world.
Food, in simple terms, means any nourishing substance consumed by human beings to
sustain life, provide energy, and promote growth. Though the term ‘food’ seems easily
definable on the surface, it carries many cultural connotations, especially in the context of
diasporic literature. The paper aims to explore the multivalence of food to understand cultural
hybridity in The Mistress of Spices and to examine the tradition of Indian diasporic food
writing. By focusing on the culinary discourses in the novel, the paper accentuates how Indian
women employ their culinary strategies and ingenuity, yielding to the cultural expression of
Indianness which is significant in the process of nation-making. People moving to other parts
of the world often carry a lot of spices and masalas to stock them up for months. Despite
moving to a foreign land, people find it hard to survive without the spices unique to their
homeland. These spices carry the richness of India. Divakaruni vividly portrays her native
Bengali culture, and its rich traditions, customs, and practices in most of her novels. Most
South Asian diasporic writers include references to the native food and consider it as an
intrinsic part of their ethnic culture and a piece of their culture and heritage that they can easily
carry with them to the new country.

In contemporary literature, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni provides a new
dimension of food. She educates readers about the issues faced by Indian immigrants and
exposes their culture to readers around large globe. Food is used to convey the culture,
seamlessly integrating into the narrative. Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices is a rich and
enchanting food narrative that weaves together magical realism, cultural importance, and the
healing power of spices. She presents food from a different perspective; in the novel ‘food’
represents the authenticity of India. Spices have been used by the Indians for over 3000 years,
as recorded in the Sanskrit texts. The diversity of spices is found in different regions of India,
from the fiery red chilli peppers of Andhra Pradesh to the fragrant cardamom of Kerala. Spices
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of India symbolise the nation’s authenticity, encapsulating centuries of tradition, culture, and
heritage, reflecting the diverse landscapes, climates, and cultures across the country.
In the novel, an immigrant woman named Tilo serves as the protagonist, possessing
magical powers that grant her inner strength in a foreign land due to her mastery of a diverse
array of exotic spices. With the aid of these spices, she can heal people and bring them out of
their crisis. Set against the backdrop of an Indian community in Oakland, California, the
narrative also incorporates elements of magic realism, where spices are personified and imbued
with transformative powers capable of bringing about profound changes in individuals.

Each spice is attributed with human qualities and possesses distinct power and
personalities almost as if they were characters themselves. Cinnamon with its warmth,
symbolizes love and passion, turmeric represents healing; chili peppers embody fiery emotions,
and so on. The spices become part of Tilo’s life and the lives of other characters she comes
across in the course of the novel. As Tilo makes magical spice blends for her clients, the
narrative probes deeper into the properties of each spice creating a sensory experience that
immerses readers in the exquisite artistry of culinary storytelling. Spices are metaphors for
immigrants’ identities, reflecting cultural transition, interracial tensions, double consciousness,
and social emptiness as potent symbols of hybrid identity. Tilo’s shop becomes a cultural
hybrid space of assimilation and association where people from various backgrounds and
ethnicities throng to receive solace, guidance, and healing. It functions as a microcosm of a
hybrid transnational space—a place that embodies collective aspirations amidst a global
cultural flux. This space becomes a contested terrain where agency intersects with globally
defined possibilities.

The spices become metaphors for individuals to preserve their cultural roots amidst
change. However, for Tilo, the box of spices is like Pandora’s Box; opening it without adhering
to strict rules can lead to chaos and destruction. Tilo conforms to the rules attached to the spices
because she understands that failing to do so, the mistress of spices does not listen to what they
say to her, she would be doomed forever. The magic of spices is awakened only by oral
incantations by the healer. Spices possessing charms and magical power are considered
artefacts of dark art and sorcery, traditionally dealt with by the Orientals. In this context, spices
protect the community from racism and cultural hegemony, empowering them to embrace the
new culture. Diverse cultures have rituals and traditions centred around food, such as holiday
feasts, religious ceremonies, and family gatherings. These rituals not only strengthen social
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bonds but also reinforce cultural values and beliefs. In the novel, the first spice chapter is titled
“Turmeric,” designated for Sunday —a day symbolizing light and auspiciousness, “when light
drips fat and buttered coloured into the bins to be soaked up glowing when you pray to the nine
planted for love and luck” (Divakaruni 13). It is also named halud which means yellow, the
colour of daybreak and conch-shell sound. “Turmeric the preserver, keeping foods safe in a
land of heat and hunger. Turmeric the auspicious spice, placed on the head of newborns for
luck, sprinkled over coconuts at pujas, rubbed into the borders of wedding saris” (Divakaruni
13). Turmeric is depicted as a preserver, ensuring food safety in a land of heat and scarcity. It
holds auspicious properties symbolizing rebirth and renewal.

The name “Tilo” itself is symbolic, derived from one of her chosen spices, sesame or
til, symbolizing nourishment. She proclaims, “I will be Tilottama, the essence of til, the life-
giver, restorer of health and hope” (Divakaruni 42). Tilo’s identity is not just influenced by the
spices but intricately tied to them. Born with these abilities, she is known as ‘The Mistress of
Spices’ and names her shop ‘Spice Bazaar.’ Her mastery over spices extends beyond culinary
expertise to the ability to evoke emotions in people and heal them of physical ailments. Every
spice in the narrative has its origin and growth. The spices are an integral element in cooking,
which adds flavour to the cuisine, enhances the taste, and provides some medicinal benefits. In
the novel, spices breathe life not only into the protagonist Tilo but also into other customers
who visit her store. As the narrative unfolds, she gets her first customer Haroun, a Kashmiri
Muslim who has come to America and works as a taxi driver for his living. Haroun finds it
very difficult to escape his traumatic past and recounts a time when a fight broke out and
tourists stopped coming to Srinagar, where he and his father and grandfather row their shikara
and reminisce about the days when “One-year money is so good we line the seats with red silk”
(Divakaruni 26). To overcome his sorrows, he visits Tilo to relieve himself from those haunted
memories. Tilo applies Sandalwood powder, chandan, known for its power to ease painful
memories, on his palms and instructs him to rub it in. Initially sceptical of its potency, Haroun
eventually feels the effects as the chandan melts into his skin, prompting him to ask, “What I
was saying?” (Divakaruni 27). Tilo reminds him that he wants to know his fortune, using her
mystical power to encourage him and says, “It looks good, very good. Great things will happen
to you in this new land, this America. Riches and happiness and maybe even love, a beautiful
woman with dark lotus flower eyes” (Divakaruni 27).

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The use of Food as a metaphor by the writer shows how powerful Indian spices are and
how they can cure the unseen wounds in the immigrant’s heart. The food as a motif serves as
a multifaceted symbol representing cultural heritage, generational dynamics, assimilation,
adaptation, and individual identity. Writers incorporate food as a cultural nexus depicting
characters navigating identity, belonging, cultural conflict, and dual behaviour. Food serves as
a symbolic bridge connecting cultures and generations, fostering understanding and a sense of
belonging in the diasporic context.

As the novel continues, another character who is introduced by Divakaruni is Jagjit
which means world conqueror, who comes with his mother to the store and partly hides behind
his mother and plays with her dupatta. He faces difficulty in school due to his lack of English
proficiency relegated to the last row by his teacher. Jagjit, belonging to a Sikh family, wears a
turban, which holds great cultural and religious value and symbolizes identity and honour, that
the kids at school make fun of, and “in the playground, they try to pull it off his head, green
turban the colour of parrot’s breast. They dangle the cloth from their fingertips and laugh at his
long, uncut hair and push him down” (Divakaruni 38). This reflects how even a small child of
ten faces discrimination among the students because of his culture, leading to low self-esteem
in a new land. Tilo brings up some barfi which has spices like clove, cardamom, and cinnamon
to help Jagjit. Crushed clove and cardamom are used to freshen his breath, as Tilo explains:

Cardamom which I scatter tonight on the wind for you. North wind carrying
them to open your teacher’s unseeing. And also sweet pungent clove, lavang,
spice of compassion. So your mother of a sudden looking up from the
washboard, pushing tired hair from her face, “Jaggi beta, tell me what
happened,” will hold you in her soapsud arms. (Divakaruni 34)

In subsequent chapters, the writer reveals how Jagjit’s life changes when he again visits
Tilo’s store and with full confidence he says, “Nobody messes with me no more. I got friends”
(Divakaruni 120). Tilo, with the help of magical spices, aids individuals in overcoming their
challenges and finding happiness. She also offers him a tonic made with an elixir of manjistha
to cool the blood and purify it. Additionally, she gives him a bag of laddus, besan, and rock
sugar, for protection. Food is the universal language that binds all irrespective of caste, creed,
and colour, she has in her hands the ability to curb other difficulties that immigrants might
experience: “I will split once again tonight kalo jire seeds for all who have suffered from
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America. For all of them especially Haroun, who is hurting inside me, whose name each time
I say it pulls my chest in two” (Divakaruni 173). Her special powers allow her to help diasporic
Indians that enter her shop while the remaining others “must go elsewhere for their need”
(Divakaruni 68).

Food plays a central role in both the plot and the thematic exploration in Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices. Tilo, a mistress of spices, uses them to help people by
prescribing spices that address their emotional needs. Each spice holds symbolic significance,
representing various emotions, desires, and aspects of life. Through the use of spices,
Divakaruni explores themes of love, longing, belonging, and the human condition. Food acts
as a cultural bridge, connecting characters to their heritage and traditions, while also reflecting
the complexities of diasporic identity. In the novel, food is not merely sustenance but a
powerful tool for emotional and spiritual transformation. Each spice she uses represents a
different aspect of the human experience, such as turmeric for protection, saffron for love, and
cumin evokes memory. Food is more than sustenance; it embodies a rich tapestry of cultural
narratives, memories, and identities, allowing immigrants to connect with their heritage and
share it meaningfully with others. Food, beyond its sustenance, carries profound metaphorical
weight in our lives, offering a rich tapestry of meanings that reflect our human experience.
From the raw ingredients to the final dish, every aspect of food parallels the journey of
existence, resonating with themes of growth, connection, and transformation. The clothes one
wears act as a medium of communication, conveying information about identity, occupation,
social status, aesthetic values, ethnicity, and religious affiliation. Clothing can serve as a marker
of identity for immigrants. The act can be a way to honour their heritage, navigate their sense
of belonging and express cultural pride. Clothes are intertwined with culture as they reflect
traditions and beliefs, they serve as a visible expression of culture, embodying values, history,
and identity, and often serve as a means of preserving and celebrating cultural heritage.
In Baldwin’s short story “Rawalpindi 1919,” Sarup, who has gone to England to study
and his mother in India are worried about Sarup’s identity in the white people’s land and how
her son will cope with the new people’s culture. Sarup’s mother is concerned that her son’s
identity is retained through the turban as it is a marker of the Sikh family. The Turban signifies
religious values, ethnicity and beliefs and it is a composite motif and a symbol connecting
individuals to their roots and ancestors. For Sikhs, the turban holds immense significance,
representing a feeling unmatched by any other piece of clothing. In India, Sarup’s mother
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contemplates her son’s individuality in a new cultural environment, ensuring he carries enough
turbans for his journey to “Inglaand.” The narrator states, “She would be sure he had enough
turbans to last two months on the boat and three years in ‘Inglaand’. Some silk ones—oh, the
brightest colours— So the Angrez would know he came from a bold Sikh clan” (Baldwin 10).
The turban for the child acts as armour, as it is a symbol of strength and bravery. The silk turban
represents the embodiment of Sikh teachings, the love of the Guru and the dogma of doing
good deeds. Sarup’s mother doesn’t wish or want her son to lose the rituals, customs, and roots
of their religion and wants her son to represent himself as a proud Sikh among foreign people.
The short story “Montreal 1984,” echoes the idea about the importance of the turban that holds
traditional values. Many immigrants move to foreign countries like Canada for opportunities
and growth, instances like the one depicted in “Montreal 1962” challenge this notion. In
“Montreal 1962” the conventional idea is disillusioned as the husband is denied a job based on
his appearance, with the condition that he must remove his turban and cut his hair short. The
husband says, “I could have the job if I take off my turban and cut my hair short” (Baldwin
151). Such demands from white employers enforce immigrants to compromise their cultural
identities, hindering the establishment of their individuality in foreign lands.
Human clothing serves as a reflection of one’s identity. In an imaginary conversation
between husband and wife, the emotional depth unfolds as the wife, a proud Sikh, refuses to
let her husband compromise his long hair for the job as she says, “And so, my love, I will not
let you cut your strong rope of hair and go without a turban into this land of strangers”
(Baldwin, “Montreal 1962” 151). This sacred connection between a husband and wife portrays
resilience in maintaining their roots and identities amidst challenges in a foreign land. The very
human appearance tells the world more about our diversity and our beauty, it showcases human
solidarity amid diversity. The couple is connected to their roots, and they don’t embrace new
cultures for the sake of being one of them leading to estrangement and rejection making them
self-independent in the strange land. Apart from the turban, other clothing motifs resonate with
cultural significance, Saree is one of them. The wife’s interaction with a dry-cleaning woman
who held her wedding saree like a dishrag as she asked her, “Is it a bed sheet?” The wife said,
“No”, “Curtains?” “No” (Baldwin 13). The incident accentuates the misunderstandings and
mockery faced by Indian attire and culture.
Silk sarees have been an integral part of India symbolizing elegance and tradition but
also hold profound cultural and emotional importance. Wearing a silk saree on her wedding
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day allows a bride to pay homage to cultural roots and preserve traditions passed down through
generations. One has to adjust to the host culture which requires learning and adopting new
rules and norms, which should be according to an individual’s needs and choices rather than
forced upon them. Assimilation in a host nation always becomes difficult for immigrants to get
familiar with the new trends as some are ready to assimilate themselves but few want to be
attached to their traditional beliefs, customs, and ideologies. Myriad values, social norms and
traditions in Canada may be very different from beliefs about ‘how things should be’ in the
country where individuals grew up. The decision to assimilate or maintain one’s cultural roots
should be a personal choice. In the short story “Devika,” the husband, Ratan, takes an
authoritarian approach by dictating his wife’s attire and habits without her consent. This
contrasts sharply with the supportive dynamic seen in “Montreal 1962,” where the husband and
wife mutually preserve their cultural identities through their clothing choices. The examples
provided showcase the complexities immigrants face in balancing heritage and adaptation to
new cultural environments. Ratan invites Peter Kendall to dinner while arranging things for the
same, Baldwin highlights the pretence and fabrication to be part of the wide canon
“As he pressed the remote door-opener to enter the dark cave of the underground
garage, he decided Devika must wear a dress. And pantyhose, and nose ring” (Baldwin,
“Devika” 154). Ratan didn’t even ask her wife whether she wanted to wear Western clothes as
he directly “decided” what she would wear.
Ratan forces his wife to change her clothing and cooking habits to suit the modern
world they reside in. “He took in her silk salwar Kameez” (Baldwin 155). Ratan said, “You
need to buy some Canadian clothes, Devika. Try a skirt and blouse—it might suit you”
(Baldwin 155). Ratan has fully embraced the Canadian lifestyle, even buying a barbecue for
the balcony, drapes-curtains and a dinner set to impress Mr Kendall. However, when he asks
Devika to dress like a Canadian woman, she deflects the topic. Devika’s story poignantly
portrays the struggle of immigrants trying to create a home that feels loving, peaceful, and
respectful of their individuality and freedom amidst cultural amnesia. Devika, the protagonist,
reflects on the suffering of migration, and she feels alienated and shrouded with a sense of
hopelessness. In one incident, her dupatta gets caught in the door of the car, leading to an
accident. The white policeman took her statement wherein she said, “My dupatta was caught
in the door,” (Baldwin, “Devika” 168). The policeman wrote, “Scarf… caught… in…
passenger… door” (168). She tried to point out the mistake made by the policeman who
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understood the dupatta to be a scarf. The policeman then asks her, “How do you spell that?”
(Baldwin 168) wherein she replies by emphasizing “D-U-P-A-T-T-A” (168). Canadians lack
awareness and vocabulary about Indian clothes and their significance in the lives of Indians.
They were unaware of the attributes and sacredness associated with the clothes; they were even
disrespectful towards the significance accorded by Indians through their attires. Devika tries to
explain to the policeman that, “A dupatta is more, so much more than a scarf. It is a woman’s
modesty, her goodness, to be protected, cherished by her husband” (Baldwin, “Devika” 42).
Devika grapples with the clash between her heritage and the Western culture she encounters in
Canada. The narrative delves into her struggles with assimilation, familiar expectations, and
finding a balance between her roots and the new environment.
In diaspora literature, clothing often serves as a potent symbol of cultural identity,
memory, and the complexities of belonging in a new land. The narrative unfolds in ways where
clothing is portrayed as a cultural marker in diaspora literature which is like a symbol of cultural
continuity. Clothing patterns from the homeland can serve as a tangible reminder of one’s roots
and cultural heritage. The characterisation in the short story cherishes traditional garments
passed down through generations, finding solace and connection in wearing them even in a
foreign land. Negotiation of identity is the pertinent attribute felt by the immigrants in diasporic
literature as they often grapple with their identity when they navigate between multiple cultural
worlds. The clothing choices can become a site of negotiation, as individuals decide how much
to embrace or modify their cultural attire to fit in with the dominant culture or assert their
heritage identity. Narratives highlighting double consciousness and amnesia depict clothing as
a form of resistance against assimilation and cultural erasure. Characters may defiantly wear
traditional attire as a way to assert their cultural pride and resist pressures to conform to the
norms of the host society. Clothes serve as a marker of otherness, subjecting diasporic
individuals to stereotypes and discrimination based on their appearance. Women in particular
may feel scrutinized or exoticized for their traditional attire, highlighting the challenges of
belonging in a society that views them as outsiders.
This paper explores cultural metaphors in selected fiction by Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni and Shauna Singh Baldwin. Both authors use concrete elements such as food and
clothing to reveal connotative meanings. Food and clothing are powerful symbols of a
connection to their cultural roots, serving as tangible reminders of home and identity.
Immigrants often maintain a connection to their cuisine, finding comfort and preserving their
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heritage; traditional recipes and culinary practices serve as a bridge between their past and
present, allowing them to maintain a connection with their homeland. Similarly, clothing serves
as a marker of identity, allowing immigrants to honour their heritage, navigate their sense of
belonging, and express cultural pride.
Chitra Banerjee Divakauni beautifully uses the metaphor of “food” in The Mistress of
Spices, where food symbolises a profound connection to one’s roots, memories, and emotions.
The protagonist, Tilo, uses spices with magical properties to help her customers, but she also
discovers the complexities of human desires and the consequences of intervening with fate.
Authentic spices transcend culinary roles, becoming symbols of cultural heritage, identity, and
transformation. Each spice in the narrative represents different facets of human experience and
emotion. Shauna Singh Baldwin employs “clothing” as a cultural metaphor in her works.
Traditional attire reflects cultural heritage and values; for instance, the saree in Indian culture
signifies not just clothing but also cultural pride and heritage. Clothing also plays a crucial role
in expressing individual identity and resistance. For example, within the Sikh community, a
turban signifies identity without words, serving as a symbol of empowerment and resistance in
foreign land.
Both writers illustrate how seemingly ordinary elements like food and clothing can hold
profound cultural significance, glorifying one’s identity in unfamiliar territories. Divakaruni
uses magic realism to depict the mystical power of authentic Indian spices which heal the
hidden wounds of Indian immigrants facing difficulties abroad. In contrast, Baldwin employs
elements of realism to showcase how traditional clothes like saree, dupatta, and turban
preserve cultural identity among immigrants, fostering a fearless embrace of self-amidst
cultural diversity. Food and clothing thus intertwine with culture within the diasporic context
in particular, for immigrants, clothing and food represent a community’s identity, history, and
customs and act as potent cultural metaphors. Passed down through generations, food
represents culinary heritage, while clothing signifies both traditional attire and adaptations to a
new environment. These symbols support diasporic communities in navigating the challenges
of cultural preservation and assimilation while maintaining ties to their homeland.

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Food and Clothing as Cultural Metaphors in Select Diasporic Fictions
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