This paper explores on the literature of the exile and diaspora, their imagination within the alienation from their native culture, their struggles, perceptions, and their confrontations with an another culture etc. Tamilians had migrated into several parts of the world; but major migrations occurred towards Srilanka and Malaysia. The people from these places in fact had immensely contributed to the Tamil literary hemisphere despite of the political, economic and social distinctions from the mother culture. The quest for self- identity(suya adayalam) and Tamil identity (tamizh adayalam) is in jeopardy. Perhaps this juxtaposition of identities help in creating distinguished identity, one that is intrigued by the mixed cultural experience and heritage. The paper also explores on the life of the people in those migrated areas of Srilanka and the reflection of their lives in the culture.
The collective self-identification of a diaspora as a distinct community in a triadic relationship with host society and home society also has political implications. Collectively, the diaspora community is strategically positioned to engage in both immigrant politics (say, to better its situation within the host society) and homeland politics (say, to better the situation in the land left behind). The latter, a form of “translocal” political involvement, has come to be labeled as ‘long-distance nationalism’ (Anderson, 1998) or ‘diaspora nationalism. (ibid. p.496)