RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM AND IDENTITY PERFORMANCE IN JHUMPA LAHIRI’S “THIS BLESSED HOUSE”

Annotasiya

 This article examines Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “This Blessed House” through the lens of religious symbolism and identity performance within a diasporic context. The study focuses on how religious artifacts function as symbols of cultural intrusion, psychological projection, and identity instability. It argues that Lahiri presents identity not as a fixed essence but as a performative construct shaped by external environments and interpersonal dynamics. Through the contrasting characters of Twinkle and Sanjeev, the story reveals that cultural hybridity does not produce coherence but instead generates tension, misrecognition, and emotional disconnection. Drawing on Homi Bhabha’s theory of hybridity and Judith Butler’s concept of performativity, this article demonstrates that identity in the diasporic space is continuously enacted, negotiated, and destabilized.