NEGOTIATING CULTURAL COMPLEXITY AND IDENTITY FORMATION IN ROMESH GUNESEKERA’S REEF

Abstract

This study discusses various facets of cultural identity crisis as portrayed in Romesh Gunesekera’s Reef, chiefly focusing on the characters Triton, Salgado, and Nili. The novel serves as an example of how one’s identity is shaped by displacement, gender roles, and the conflict between tradition and modernity. Applying Stuart Hall’s concept of cultural identity as a dynamic and evolving process, the study attempts to state that the identities of individuals are not fixed but continuously negotiated within cultural contexts. The diasporic experiences of Triton and Salgado after their migration to London reflect HomiBhabha’s concept of hybridity, where “in-between” spaces generate new hybrid identities. The novel symbolically presents degradation of coral reefs on Lankan shores as the erosion of national and cultural identity as well as the socio-political instability of Sri Lanka. Through Triton’s culinary skills which maintain a connection to homeland traditions, food is depicted to become a powerful indicator of cultural preservation. The study further traces the expectations of gender roles through the lens of Alice Eagly’s social role theory, emphasizing how Nili struggles to free from patriarchal norms and strives to establish her rights in a male-dominated society. By incorporating postcolonial hybridity, cultural identity and gender-based theories, this research highlights the role of Reef in presenting cultural identity as a negotiation between memory and adaptation, tradition and transformation.