Diasporic dreams and shattered desires: Displacement, identity and tradition in heaven on earth (Deepa Mehta 2008)

This chapter addresses the question of travel through the analysis of Deepa Mehta’s 2008 film Heaven on Earth. Through the narration of the journey of a young Punjabi bride from India to Canada, the film provides a critical analysis of the concept of diaspora which on the one hand emphasises the difference between ‘casual travels’ and diasporic journeys (Brah 1996: 182), and on the other focuses on the political, economic and cultural conditions within which people move, as well as their positions in terms of gender, race and ethnicity.