Navigating Diasporic Identity and Cultural Hybridity in Dhaka Dust

Abstract

Dilruba Ahmed’s Dhaka Dust examines themes of identity, diaspora, and cultural hybridity, offering a layered portrayal of the immigrant experience shaped by displacement, memory, and fragmented selfhood. Drawing from images of Dhaka’s urban spaces and the realities of migration, Ahmed captures the tension of living between multiple cultural worlds. Using metaphors of “Passports”, “Roots”, “Maps”, and “Undocumented” existence, her work aligns with frameworks by Stuart Hall, Avtar Brah, and Homi Bhabha, while also expanding their possibilities. Unlike much of diaspora literature that leans on nostalgia or simple narratives of assimilation, Dhaka Dust highlights resistance and the creative potential of unbelonging. Despite growing scholarship on South Asian diasporic writers, critical attention to Ahmed’s work remains limited. This study addresses that gap by asking two key questions: (1) How does Dhaka Dust use language, memory, and spatial imagery to construct a resistant diasporic identity? (2) In what ways do Ahmed’s depictions of migration, bureaucracy, and displacement critique postcolonial and neoliberal structures of belonging? It argues that her poetry reframes diaspora as a method of survival and radical reimagination, offering a more fluid model for understanding transnational identity today.