Search for: [Abstract = "The aim of the article is to discuss the discourse of hybridity employed in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni`s \"The Mistress of Spices\". It is argued that under the veneer of exoticism \(otherness created by culinary images, magic, and cross\-cultural desire\) the novel displays political engagement\: it destabilizes mainstream categories such as white\/black, authentic\/ inauthentic, American\/un\-American, introduces ambiguity and ultimately challenges the center\/periphery paradigm ."]