Appropriation and Westernization: A Postcolonial Study of the Inheritance of Loss
Abstract
Appropriation is a process to take or borrow some conventions and beliefs of another culture and practice those conventions and beliefs in their lives merging with their own. Westernization can be defined as a process through which the social setup of eastern areas is changed after coming into contact with the west such as technological changes, change in political setup, in educational setup and many other fields of life. India is the region who bore colonialism for many decades therefore it is rich in appropriation and westernization. So, keeping it in mind, this study aims to investigate the theme of Appropriation and Westernization for the most part by Indian individuals in their lives, religion, and culture, as indicated in Kiran Desai’s novel, The Inheritance of Loss. It is qualitative research which uses the textual analysis as a specific lens, and is designed to explore and analyze the theme of appropriation and westernization in the backdrop of post-colonial India. In The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai endeavors to show that how the effects of colonization become the root cause of the insufficiency of character among local people, and how their eastern character is lost as they try to fit in the Western culture.
Authors
Mr. Aurangzeb
Associate Lecturer, Department of English Literature, Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Dr. Sohail Ahmad Saeed
Assistant Professor, Department of English Literature, Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Keywords
Appropriation, Colonialism, Globalization, Post Colonialism, Westernization