Rethinking the Problematics of Identity in Northeast India with Special Reference to Temsula Ao’s These Hills Called Home: Stories from a War Zone and Laburnum for my Head: A Discourse of Cultural Recovery

Abstract

Northeast India incorporating seven different states with endless sovereignty movements and ethnic reformation during and after the British invasion itself problematises the notion of national identity being alienated from the mainland India. Nagaland, one of the state in Northeast India is still embattling a never ending conflict between the Indian state and the ethnocentric movements. This fluid political situation is a carryover of the colonial past. The colonial past has shaped and reshaped the cultural identities. Christianity, the legacy of the colonialisation has another dimension to cultural loss and recovery. But Temsula Ao, the emerging writer from this region seeks to articulate the wholeness of life in the face of disintegration and fragmentation through collective creativity. The manifestation of creative thoughts and emotions of myth & memory through storytelling provides uniqueness to the region. This tradition of storytelling has a group solidarity for collective welfare. Her works titled These Hills called Home: Stories from a war zone and Laburnum for My Head explores the problematics of identity those that threaten their roots. Thus, this paper critically analyses the revival of a lost identity making it relevant for the new generation.