Revisiting Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake: An Epistemological Study

This paper applies feminist epistemology to Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake (2003), offering a new perspective on the Indian diaspora experience. Using Miranda Fricker's concept of epistemic injustice, I examine subtle forms of gender-based violence intrinsically linked to knowledge creation and circulation within diasporic contexts. The study focuses on how female characters, particularly Ashima Ganguli, encounter testimonial and hermeneutical injustice. By analyzing instances where Ashima's voice is silenced or discredited, I explore how processes of knowledge production and validation can perpetuate gender-based violence. This approach reveals epistemic injustice as a constitutive element of gender-based violence in diasporic settings.

This analysis illuminates the intersectionality of gender, culture, and immigrant status in shaping both knowledge and marginalization. It contributes to the discourse on gender-based violence by highlighting its epistemic dimensions, demonstrating how feminist epistemology can uncover less visible ways that knowledge practices affect Indian women in transnational spaces.

Keywords: epistemic injustice, gender-based violence, diasporic literature, feminist epistemology, knowledge production