Lemonade of Magic and Reality: An Analysis of Magical Realism in Sanjena Sathian’s Gold Diggers

Author: Tushita Choudhary
Affiliation: Independent scholar

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Abstract:

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Gold Diggers by Senjena Sathian is a magical realist novel that revolves around a generation of America-born Indians and narrates their real-life lived experiences as immigrants in a magical realist manner. This paper finds that Sathian’s writing showcases the extraordinary to be as commonplace as the ordinary in its attempt to present the postcolonial angst that continues amongst Indian diaspora. It combines the understanding of magical realism in Latin American and African literary works and incorporates the magical realist features of traditional Indian folklore and myths as well, connecting the American experience to the ‘Indianness’ that perpetuates amongst the immigrants. This essay further discusses the novel’s use of religious myths from Hinduism and Tantrism, along with ideological myths of model minority and the American dream that combine with the reality of an individual navigating their self-identity. A magical lemonade, concocted through a mystical ancient Indian alchemic ritual, enhances one’s capabilities by using gold, an element that emerges in the novel as an allegory for ambition and a means to make the mythical American dream an actual reality for the aspirational immigrants across generations.

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Keywords: Magical Realism, Postcolonial literature, Diaspora, Indianess, American dream

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ISSN 3069-8200