“I am a stranger”: A Study of Racial Discrimination and Alienation in Kamala Markandaya’s Novel The Nowhere Man

The Criterion

The Criterion: An International Journal in English
Volume 17, Issue 4 · August 2026 · ISSN 0976-8165

Open Access
CC BY 4.0
Crossref DOI


“I am a stranger”: A Study of Racial Discrimination and Alienation in Kamala Markandaya’s Novel The Nowhere Man


Mrs. Moumita Bera

Diaspora Studies
Pages 618-628
Article #37
2026V17N4096

DOI

Digital Object Identifier

10.66376/criterion.v17.n4.37

Registered with Crossref · Open Access · CC BY 4.0

Abstract

The Nowhere Man is a novel written by Kamala Markandaya that was published in 1972. Kamala Markandaya was a pseudonym used by Kamala Purnaiya Taylor, who was born in 1924, and lived till May 16, 2004. She was an Indian novelist and journalist, a graduate of Madras University who published several short stories in Indian newspapers. After India got its independence, Markandaya moved to Britain, though she still labelled herself an Indian expatriate. Kamala Markandaya was an Indian expatriate living in London and all of her literary works are marked with a deep sense of Indianness and nostalgia, thus The Nowhere Man is considered a prime example of Diasporic literature. The paper focuses on racial discrimination and alienation experienced by immigrants in Kamala Markandaya’s Novel The Nowhere Man. The suffering of a migrated man of India in England is depicted with East-West violence and he has no self-identity. This is the very novel mirrors alienation of an Indian Brahmin who had spent one third of his life in England faced bitter experiences though he embraced England life. He was dissuaded, deceived and ill-treated by whites whom he knew in foreign land.

Keywords
Racial DiscriminationalienationKamala MarkandayaThe Nowhere Man.

Cite This Article — MLA 9th Edition

Mrs. Moumita Bera. ““I am a stranger”: A Study of Racial Discrimination and Alienation in Kamala Markandaya’s Novel The Nowhere Man.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 4, August 2026, pp. 618-628. DOI, https://doi.org/10.66376/criterion.v17.n4.37.

Article History
Received
22 Jul 2026
Accepted
14 Aug 2026
Published Online
31 Aug 2026

Journal
The Criterion: An International Journal in English
Volume / Issue
Vol. 17, No. 4 (August 2026)
Pages
618-628
Article ID
2026V17N4096
ISSN
0976-8165

Open Access
CC BY 4.0
Crossref DOI

Open Access · CC BY 4.0 · Crossref DOI ·
the-criterion.com

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