Neurosis as Resilience in Jhumpa Lahiri's Diasporic Short Fictions

Abstract

phone Postcolonial Studies (GAPS) under the title "Empire and Neurosis." GAPS, the DokForum, the Dekanat der Geisteswissenschaften, and the Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern of the University of Duisburg-Essen generously supported the event. As many questions remained unanswered and many discussions unresolved, the organizers opted for a follow-up conference a year later, on February 18-19, 2016, which promised to investigate "Neurosis and Social Transformations." As the negotiations for the publication of a volume had already started, this second event, which pursued an expanded and more openended version of the original topic, was designed as a conference as well as a writing workshop, where the invited speakers presented more elaborate versions of their papers with an eye on publication. That was the beginning of a long process of editing and of an intensive multilateral dialogue that has resulted in this volume. We would like to thank our contributors and acknowledge their commendable resilience and long-term commitment to the project, without which this publication would not have seen the light.The editors also thank the Profilschwerpunkt Wandeln von Gegenwartsgesellschaften of the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), which provided generous funding for both the "Neurosis and Social Transformation" workshop and the book publication. We are grateful to the Faculty of the Humanities (UDE), to the Department of Anglophone Studies (UDE), and to the University Library of the University of Duisburg-Essen for their generous financial assistance and for their enthusiastic response to our publication ambitions. And we are greatly indebted to our mentor Prof. Dr. Barbara Buchenau for her endless advice and encouragement: she has been and continues to be a crucial influence in our academic trajectories.