Multicultural Spaces in Kiran Desai’s “The Inheritance of Loss”

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of Kiran Desai’s second novel “The Inheritance of Loss” published in 2006. I argue that the novel is best regarded as postcolonial though it is situated at the crossroads between post-colonialism, multiculturalism, migration, and diaspora. Multiculturalism shares with post-colonialism an obsession with difference, ethnicity, identity, and hybridity, elements which are all at the core of this writing. My analysis mainly focuses on the multicultural aspects brought to the fore by this narrative where all major characters are caught in between two worlds and cannot find an authentic sense of home in either.