An Analysis Of Cultural Identity Reconstruction In The Inheritance Of Loss

Kiran Desai is a famous contemporary Indian writer. She published the novel The Inheritance of Loss in 2006 and got Britain’s most important literary award—the Man Booker Prize. She becomes the first and youngest female writer who wins this prize since 2000.With the help of some concepts of post-colonialism, such as mimicry, the Other and displacement, this thesis demonstrates that the reasons for the loss of cultural identity include the colonial history of India, internalization of the colonial values and voiceless performance of weak culture. These reasons lead to Indian people’s inability of finding their real cultural identity or involving in the western world when they are trapped in the crevice of two cultures. All of these reasons result in the consequences of being marginalized Other and westernized Other and reveal the deep impact of aftermath on Indian people. Going out of the predicament and reconstructing the cultural identity need to get rid of the distorted and westernized environment and change the current situation. It is urgent to be free from the crevice of two cultures and begin new life. What’s more, Indian people should return to the root and change the situation of displacement.Through the loss and reconstruction of cultural identity, this thesis tries to awake people and hope people can realize the importance of changing for the whole nation. Then they can look for the values of national culture and reconstruct their cultural identity. Based on the explorations of the reasons and consequences of losing the cultural identity, this thesis discusses the approaches of reconstructing the cultural identity creatively.