Abstract
The work of Sudesh Mishra, a contemporary Fijian-Indian-Australian poet, addresses the idea of the fragmented diasporic identities of Indo- Fijians and the ability to locate a ‘home’ amidst borders of history, memories, and intergenerational remembrance. There is an attempt at understanding the nature of the memories that sustain the ethnic borders that still exist in Fiji, and give rise to racial and ethnic tensions. Far from being geographical in nature, the borders in Fiji are mostly historical and psychological, and the history of colonization and indenture constantly reiterate the presence of borders that cannot be dissolved or reconsidered. In times of globalization and multiple border crossings, the study of the Indo-Fijian diaspora offers dislocated sites of contestation of the homogenizing forces of globalization. And it is precisely these sites of dislocation and instability that create possibilities of redefining a home for a diasporic community, a home that travels and traverses time and space to become more inclusive and comprehensive.
Keywords: Indo-Fijian, diaspora, memory, borders, home
Introduction
How do theorists of border studies and transnationalism capture a state of being that is fluid and exilic, and that attests to remembering, rather than forgetting, the anguish of the self? How do memories shape the consciousness of not just an individual, but also a nation that must come to terms with historical trauma and dislocation? In times where state and national borders are becoming increasingly elusive, fluid, and mobile, the positions of certain populations are shifting from disadvantaged and peripheral to become important participants in dialogue and expression. Such interfaces create new avenues for understanding the existence and perpetuation of the borders that run deep in a nation's psyche, and deeply engage with memory studies as a tool for understanding how, and how much, a nation remembers. Fiji is one such site where memories of the borders and conflicts that emerged in the process of nation-building continue to thrive, affecting the political and cultural landscape of the nation.
This chapter seeks to understand the notions of borders, home, and belonging of the Indo-Fijians through the poetry of Sudesh Mishra, a contemporary Indo-Fijian-Australian poet.