NARRATIVE VOICE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF CULTURAL IDENTITY IN DIASPORIC LITERATURE

Diasporic literature has emerged as a significant field of contemporary literary studies, foregrounding questions of migration, displacement, hybridity, and cultural belonging. Central to these concerns is the role of narrative voice, which functions not merely as a storytelling device but as a site where cultural identity is constructed, negotiated, and reimagined. This article examines how narrative voice contributes to the construction of cultural identity in selected diasporic texts by Jhumpa Lahiri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Hanif Kureishi. Drawing on narratological theory and postcolonial cultural studies, particularly the works of Stuart Hall and Homi K. Bhabha, the study argues that narrative voice operates as a mediating structure through which diasporic subjects articulate hybrid identities shaped by movement across cultural and linguistic borders. Through close textual analysis, the article demonstrates that Lahiri’s introspective narrative voice, Adichie’s transnational and socially reflective narration, and Kureishi’s ironic and hybrid narrative style construct distinct yet interconnected models of diasporic identity. The study concludes that narrative voice is a central mechanism through which diasporic literature transforms cultural displacement into narrative self-construction.