Hybridity, Identity Crises and the Subaltern Voices: A Postcolonial Analysis of Megha Majumdar’s A Burning and Sairish Hussain’s The Family Tree

Abstract

Megha Majumdar's A Burning (2020) and Sairish Hussain’s The Family Tree (2020) are both postcolonial texts, and both writers have discussed a variety of issues faced by people living in the postcolonial context. This is a qualitative study, and for the textual analysis of the selected novels, the Postcolonial lens is used. The selected theoretical framework is mainly based on key terminologies like “Hybridity” and “the Third Space”, given by Homi K. Bhabha in his book “The Location of Culture” (1994). Another theoretical framework used in this study is drawn from Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's immensely significant essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” published in the book "Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture" (1988). These theoretical underpinnings are employed to examine how characters struggle to develop identities within oppressive, coercive sociopolitical systems. Through a close analysis of the selected texts, this study examines marginalisation, identity formation, cultural hybridity, mixed identities, third space, power, resistance, socioeconomic inequality, and gender inequality in the context of Hindu nationalism and the British colonies. By bridging the selected novels with the chosen postcolonial theoretical stances, the study aims to demonstrate how A Burning (2020) explores contemporary postcolonial challenges and the efforts of individuals to assert their identities in postcolonial settings. This study also sheds light on how the characters’ lifestyles depict the blending of cultural practices through language and traditions in The Family Tree (2020). The findings of this research paper demonstrate the selected novels’ engagement with postcolonial tensions and the continuing relevance of Spivak and Bhabha's theories for understanding the issues faced by marginalised communities in the contemporary world.