Flavours of the Roots in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_18How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Magical realism; food; migration; identity; memory; displacement

Abstract

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices skillfully blends elements of magical realism to explore the complex interplay between food, migration, and identity. The narrative foregrounds the experiences of immigrants who, although geographically separated from their homeland, remain emotionally and culturally connected through food practices. Food becomes more than sustenance; it acts as a repository of memory, a link to tradition, and a medium through which cultural continuity is preserved across generations. At the center of the novel stands Tilo, a mystical figure endowed with the power to heal through the supernatural qualities of spices. Through food and spices, Divakaruni emphasizes how immigrants negotiate belonging in a foreign land, using cultural practices to foster care, community, and identity.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Tharini Prabakaran
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/30
TI  - Flavours of the Roots in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Food Studies: Intersections of Culture, Science and Sustainability (ICEFS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 195
EP  - 201
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_18
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_18
ID  - Prabakaran2026
ER  -