Of Ambivalence, Anxiety and Acceptance A Postcolonial Reading of Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss

Abstract

Abstract: One of the most frequently used concepts within postcolonial theory is also one of the most disputed ones: hybridity. Hybridity has been said to be apolitical and unable to account for global inequalities. This essay contributes to the on-going discussion by examining the identity formation of four characters in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss (2006), while applying the concept and relating it to hegemony and power asymmetries. The essay shows that in The Inheritance of Loss, hybridity can be both a source of violent self-loathing and, contradictorily enough, strength and self-acceptance. The influence of hegemony is crucial; internalised racism and social inequalities effectively turn hybridity into something the characters lament. However, it also becomes clear that for hybridity to be a place of liberation, it is precisely hegemony that needs be identified and, eventually, undermined. The possibility to do so is restricted by factors related to social, economical and historical conditions, which makes hybridity into a source of power only for a privileged few. Hence, the essay also underscores the importance of relating hybridity to hegemony.