Quest for Identity in Parvin Shere’s Pearls from the Ocean

Abstract

This paper analyzes the means of self-representation, the conflicts between self/other, and the conscious and unconscious quest for identity by the writer. This paper attempts to understand travel narratives as the narratives about the journey undertaken for the quest for identity by traveler/writer wherein apart from the physical journey of the author the emphasis is laid on the emotional and psychological journey within the author. Parvin Shere is a poet, writer, painter, and musician. She has travelled to as many as five continents (Africa, South America, Europe, Asia and North America) and twenty six countries. Her travelogue, Pearls from the Ocean is an interdisciplinary text with the use of literature prose, poetry and paintings. This paper attempts to answer the questions like, what is identity; does quest for identity play an important part in travel narrating; what factors exhibit the significance of identity in travel narratives; does travel facilitates the quest for identity of the writer/traveler through the analysis of Parvin’s travelogue.