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philosophie de langue francaise, at Montreal in
August 1971 entitled “Signature, Event, Context”,
which was quoted by Kiesler later, may be cited:
"Communication had several meanings, and if this
plurality could not be reduced, then from the outset it
would not be justified to define communication itself
as the transmission of a meaning, assuming that we
are capable of understanding one another as concerns
each of these words (transmission, meaning, etc.).
Now, the word communication, which nothing
initially authorizes us to overlook as a word, and to
impoverish as a polysemic word, opens a semantic
field which precisely is not limited to semantics,
semiotics, and even less to linguistics. To the
semantic field of the word communication belongs
the fact that it also designates non-semantic
movements" (Qtd. in Kiesler 1988).
3 ANALYSIS
3.1 Absent Signs
Proper names play an important role in understanding
a linguistic description as they grip the reader’s mind
to establish a relationship of the name bearer to a
specific culture. Proper names have the semantic
perspectives of referring and presupposing the
behavior of a character according to a specific culture.
In Lahiri's first novel The Namesake, Gogol, the
central character, felt like an outsider everywhere
because of the unusual name he was bearing. In her
second novel, The Lowland, the name Udayan gave
the reader a hint about the revolting character he
played against the conventional society. In
Whereabouts, however, Lahiri has avoided giving
any proper names to her characters so that they can be
interpreted without having any specific cultural
presupposition. The absence of proper nouns in the
novel sets it free from any geographical or cultural
identity. The absence of proper nouns for the purpose
of referring to persons and places connotes universal
character. The protagonist in the story can be anyone,
a European, an American, an Italian or an Indian.
Lahiri’s art of characterization has given the readers
complete freedom to interpret the narrator with no
cultural or social identity labeled to the character. The
deliberate reference to the characters as he and she
has enabled the global readers to identify themselves
with the character for who she is and not because from
where she is. Reading Whereabouts, anyone can
identify himself or herself with the protagonist
because of the absence of her name and nationality.
In an interview with Mary Louise Kelly, Lahiri
explains dropping of proper names to her character as
well as places in Whereabouts. According to her, “...if
we take away the names of the places, the name of the
city, it’s more open. I find it more liberating. I think
that identity can be a trap at times. I think we can
become too fixated on who we are and where we’re
from. And I think this can actually- and do lead to a
lot of very grave problems in the world and for our
society and for the way we communicate and exist
and coexist” (Kelly et al, 2021).
3.2 Proxemics
Proxemics is the study of space that can be identified
as an element of metacommunication in order to infer
the proper meaning of a message received. Edward T.
Hall an American anthropologist and a cross-cultural
researcher coined the word proxemics to identify "the
hidden dimension" of interpersonal communication
through the study of space used by human beings
(Hall, 1966). Venetin Aghostin-Sangar in the
research paper “Human behavior in public spaces”
has established a relationship between the human
behavior and the environment. His stimulus load
theory defines environment as, “ a source of sensory
information, that provides people with psychological
stimulation. These stimuli can range from simple
ambient features such as light, sound or temperature,
to complex physical features such as buildings,
streets, land forms and the presence of other people.”
The unnamed narrator in Whereabouts is very
particular about the physical space she occupies. She
has a preference for a compact zone like a modest
corner or a cozy little room. While she is at the
therapist she likes the beautifully furnished small
room. The walls covered from top to bottom of the
room attract her and that’s why she chooses to visit
that therapist. The narrator finds herself at ease in that
place and confesses her nightmares to the therapist. A
small place ensures everything organized at its place
and at the arm's reach, whereas bigger places involve
a risk of losing important things. The small bedroom
of her friend’s daughter appeals to her more than the
master bedroom. The slanting low roof with dark
heavy wood single bed fascinates her and she feels
comfortable in this setup. On the contrary the
spacious hotel room where she has to spend three
nights for a convention appears to be a parking garage
designed for human beings. The spacious lobby, high
ceiling are unimpressive to the narrator.
Her office room is small and cozy too, but she
does not have any attachment towards the room as she
says “I am here to earn a living, my heart is not in it”
(Whereabouts, 8) However, when she lands at her
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