Volume III Special Issue V May 2023

Name of Author : Ananta Kumar Banerjee

Title of the paper : Spatial Memory of Kolkata In Fictional Archives: Reading Chitra Banerjee Divakarunis Select Novels

Abstract: A spatial memory is basically a form of cognitive recordings as well as a form of explication of the perceived knowledge of topography, location and landmarks. An individuals spatial memory is orbited around his or her conversant acquaintance to a geo-local. Kolkata – the city of joy and culture, has been apprehended and represented by so many literary practitioners. Chitralekha Banerjee 29th July 1956 - whom we acknowledge as Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is one of the pioneers of post-colonial Indian immigrant literature from Bengali background. Her own establishment as well as the establishments of her fictional protagonists is conditioned by the integral correspondence between the two worlds- native land Kolkata and the regional host lands in America. This paper aims to present Chitra Banerjee Divakarunis spatial reminiscences of Kolkata ranging from lanes to avenues, from kitchen to well-known locales in the fictional archives of her select texts Sister of My Heart 1999, and Oleander Girl 2013. The paper also proposes to dig out Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s mental mapping to recall the pulsating cultural allures of Kolkata and its replications in the select texts.

Keywords : Spatial Memory, Topographical reminiscences, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Kolkata, Fictional archives.

DOI :

Page Number : 110-112