Inglishing English: Linguistic Appropriation, Abrogation and Subversion in Postcolonial Literature and Poetry Restricted; Files Only
Gupta, Rhea (Spring 2023)
Abstract
English literary education in India, both during and following the imperial British Raj, played a significant role in the formation of what Homi Bhabha calls the anglicized “mimic man,” who attempted to emulate Englishness (Bhabha, Of Mimicry and Man 154). Despite the negative historical background of the English language in India, the language has become central to the ways in which people construct identity and culture—for the Anglophone Indian to separate from it is impossible, as doing so necessitates what Adil Jussawalla calls a “very fundamental personal disintegration” (Jussawalla, “English” 257). Critics such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Frantz Fanon have repeatedly alluded to the inextricability of language from local culture. How then, might the Indian anglophone writer best use the English language to convey an Indian experience and culture?
The literature of the postcolonial world often explores the complexities of postcolonial subjectivity, contending with the ways in which colonial languages have impacted the identity of colonized people. In this project, I argue that anglophone authors attempt to resist and transform imperial legacies by remolding the English language into the “inglishes,” by smuggling a number of Indian vernacular languages, histories, and cultures into the dominant colonial tongue. This process of indigenizing language—which I term “inglishing”—reallocates power away from the imperial center in favor of bringing attention to local politics and perspectives through language. To demonstrate the creative potential of the English language, I build upon Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin’s theories of abrogation and appropriation, as well as on Homi Bhabha’s theories of hybridity and mimicry to read two postcolonial novels and three poems through the lens of language.
My first chapter draws upon the work of Gauri Viswanathan, Bill Ashcroft, Helen Tiffin, and Gareth Griffiths, to discuss the use of English as both a tool of oppression and emancipation in India. In my second chapter, I evaluate the impact of the English language and education on the Indian anglophone subject through the lens of exile, invisibility, and Bahujan [caste-oppressed] representation in postcolonial poetry. Specifically, I analyze Vikram Seth’s “Divali,” Adil Jussawalla’s “Missing Person” and Meena Kandasamy’s “Mulligatawny Dreams”—all of which thematize language as a political vehicle in India. My last two chapters examine two novels, Midnight’s Children (1981) by Salman Rushdie and The God of Small Things (1997) by Arundhati Roy to uncover the ways in which the authors engage with questions of culture, identity, and difference through language.
Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………........................1
Chapter 1: Whose Line is it Anyway? The History of English Language Instruction and Use in India……………………………………………..…………………………………………….....................….14
Chapter 2: Exile, Invisibility and Representation: What Postcolonial Poetry Says about English……………………………..………………………………………………………………..........……...23
Chapter 2.1 Exile in Vikram Seth’s “Divali”…..………………………...………………...………..……..24
Chapter 2.2 Invisibility in Adil Jussawalla’s “Missing Person”………..…..…………………….….....34
Chapter 2.3 Representation in Meena Kandasamy’s “Mulligatawny Dreams” …………...….........41
Chapter 3: Linguistic Abrogation and Appropriation in Arundhati Roy’s God of Small Things………………..........………………………………………………..………………………………........48
Chapter 4: Language in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children…...……………………............…...70
Conclusion….………………………………………………………………………....................………….....95
Works Cited….………………………………………………………………………....................……….......98
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File download under embargo until 19 May 2025 | 2023-04-11 12:31:24 -0400 | File download under embargo until 19 May 2025 |
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