Colonial Modernity and the Image of the Gorkhaland Movement in Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss

Authors

Ubaraj Katawal, Valdosta State UniversityFollow

Abstract

This article examines some dynamics surrounding the Indian nation-state's treatment of its minority populations, and how Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss seems to abet the postcolonial nation-state's attempt to policing its own people. The article is interested in exploring the impact of colonial modernity in postcolonial human relations. As such, the novel successfully locates postcolonial literary violence in the character of the judge, whose replication of racist treatments on his victims highlights the destructive cycle of violence. At the same time, the novel reinforces ethnic stereotypes against certain ethnicities--at least it leaves much to be desired in countering racist thoughts of some of the characters. Drawing concepts from psychoanalysis and contemporary political philosophy, the article sheds light on a relationship between literature and the nation-state.

Recommended Citation

Katawal, Ubaraj. "Colonial Modernity and the Image of the Gorkhaland Movement in Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss." Critical Humanities 1, 2 (2023). DOI: https://doi.org/10.33470/2836-3140.1013