Analysis of colonial, historical and cultural trauma in Kiran Desai’s the inheritance of loss

Abstract

In simple words, inheritance means the transfer of genes from one generation to the next. Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss presents the inheritance of emotional and psychological trauma of colonialism and migration. She presents personal and collective trauma from historical and social injustices through various characters representing various geographical locations, suffering, and discrimination. Desai critically uses various characters to reflect the profound effects of trauma. She presents the characters' personal history and relationships to demonstrate various themes, including trauma, cultural dislocation, pain, and suffering. By analysing various characters and their personal experiences, one can find many issues that led to individual and collective losses, trauma, and inheritance. By applying theories of psychoanalysis, especially those of Sigmund Freud (Psychoanalytic Trauma Theory), Van der Kolk (Embodied Trauma), Homi K. Bhabha (Postcolonial Trauma Theory), and Cathy Caruth (Diasporic Trauma), this article examines the elements of trauma characterised by pain, suffering, and discrimination of various characters and their experiences of displacement, alienation, and violence. Further, it also explores the intricate link between the trauma and their fractured identities and social positions.