Hetroglossia, Language and Identity in Twilight in Delhi

For colonized subjects, the arrival of the colonizer is fraught with socio cultural anxieties. Under the yoke a new regime, the indigenous cultural values and norms are redefined. The new cultural episteme that emerges under the dictates of colonization not only subverts the existing power structures but also redefines the practice of everyday life. In historical terms, it could be seen as dialectical struggle between the colonizer and the colonized. Mikhail Bakhtin, a Russian Formalist critic defines it as a dialogue between the two cultural discourses. In this paper, I have borrowed the theoretical framework from Bakhtin to investigate how Mir Nihal, the protagonist in Twilight in Delhi deals with the introduction of colonial episteme in the public and private spaces of his life in particular and of Indian Muslims in general. It also traces the cultural marginalization at the hands of the colonizer. I call it cultural hetroglossia to pin down the changes that are taking place in the Indian civilizational landscape because of the introduction of English language and manners. Urdu, the cherished language of the Muslim civilization in India is under threat. Mir Nihal tries to protect it at least in the private sphere of life. Dejected in the public sphere, he withdraws to the private. But the cultural onslaught is all encompassing, leaving Mir Niahl marginalized and frustrated.