Meaning is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake

Mustafa Demirel

Meaning is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake

Abstract

Instead of a simple definition as “one’s ‘sameness’ in instances”, identity must be perceived as a much more complex notion, as an “always-lacking” structure that is shaped by both external (discursive practices) and internal (psychological processes) dynamics. Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake is a novel in which the argued dynamics in identity-formation can be clearly observed, through the identity crisis experienced by its main character Gogol/Nikhil in particular. Throughout the novel, the notion of identity is never taken as static but as a notion which always shifts along with that of meaning. Thus, to observe identity-formations through discursive and psychological processes in The Namesake, this article analyses the novel especially by focussing on the life of its hero, from the prenatal period to the adulthood. While studying the notion of identity in the light of certain ideas from prominent critics, the article resolutely follows the journey of the hero as subject.

Keywords

References

Althusser, Louis. “Ideology Interpellates Individuals as Subjects.” in Identity: A Reader. Eds. Paul du Gay, Jessica Evans, and Peter Redman. London: Sage, 2007. 31-8.
Bhabha, Homi K. “Interrogating Identity: The Post Colonial Prerogative.” in Identity: A Reader. Eds. Paul du Gay, Jessica Evans, and Peter Redman. London: Sage, 2007. 94-101.
Butler, Judith. “Critically Queer.” in Identity: A Reader. Eds. Paul du Gay, Jessica Evans, and Peter Redman. London: Sage, 2007. 108-7.
Craib, Ian. “What’s Happening to Mourning?” in Identity: A Reader. Eds. Paul du Gay, Jessica Evans, and Peter Redman. London: Sage, 2007. 267-76.
Derrida, Jacques. “Différance.” in Identity: A Reader. Eds. Paul du Gay, Jessica Evans, and Peter Redman. London: Sage, 2007. 87-93.
Foucault, Michel. “Domain.” in Identity: A Reader. Eds. Paul du Gay, Jessica Evans, and Peter Redman. London: Sage, 2007. 102-7.
Freud, Sigmund. “Mourning and Melancholia.” in General Psychological Theory: Papers on Metapsychology. Trans. Joan Riviere. Ed. Philip Rieff. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. 164-79.
———. The Ego and the Id. Trans. Joan Riviere. Ed. James Strachey. New York: Norton, 1960.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Mustafa Demirel ^*
0000-0002-9405-8689
Türkiye

Publication Date

January 26, 2026

Submission Date

September 12, 2025

Acceptance Date

November 19, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Number: 5

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA75LR68EX

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Demirel, M. (2026). Meaning is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. Overtones Ege Journal of English Studies, 5, 27-34. https://izlik.org/JA75LR68EX

AMA

1.Demirel M. Meaning is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. Overtones. 2026;(5):27-34. https://izlik.org/JA75LR68EX

Chicago

Demirel, Mustafa. 2026. “Meaning Is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake”. Overtones Ege Journal of English Studies, nos. 5: 27-34. https://izlik.org/JA75LR68EX.

EndNote

Demirel M (January 1, 2026) Meaning is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. Overtones Ege Journal of English Studies 5 27–34.

IEEE

[1]M. Demirel, “Meaning is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake”, Overtones, no. 5, pp. 27–34, Jan. 2026, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA75LR68EX

ISNAD

Demirel, Mustafa. “Meaning Is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake”. Overtones Ege Journal of English Studies. 5 (January 1, 2026): 27-34. https://izlik.org/JA75LR68EX.

JAMA

1.Demirel M. Meaning is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. Overtones. 2026;:27–34.

MLA

Demirel, Mustafa. “Meaning Is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake”. Overtones Ege Journal of English Studies, no. 5, Jan. 2026, pp. 27-34, https://izlik.org/JA75LR68EX.

Vancouver

1.Mustafa Demirel. Meaning is Deferred and Differs, Identity Shifts: Identity-Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. Overtones [Internet]. 2026 Jan. 1;(5):27-34. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA75LR68EX