Third Culture, First Voice: Navigating Identity, Creativity, and Belonging in the South Asian Diaspora

For South Asian creatives growing up in the diaspora, life often unfolds in a space that is simultaneously familiar and foreign. The family home is steeped in cultural memory: the language of grandparents, the smell of curry, the rhythm of festivals celebrated as they were in ancestral lands. Outside, the streets, schools, and social spaces reflect the dominant culture of the host country — with its norms, values, and aesthetic codes.

This duality produces what sociologists call a “third culture” — a space neither fully aligned with the heritage culture nor fully assimilated into the host society (Useem, 1967; Pollock & Van Reken, 2009). For the South Asian diaspora, this space is both a challenge and a creative opportunity: it is where identity is negotiated, culture is hybridized, and stories that defy simplistic definitions are born.