Mimicry and diluted identity: A Postcolonial Critique of Aslam’s Maps for Lost Lover

Abstract

The present research is the postcolonial critique of Maps for Lost Lovers written by the British Pakistani novelist Nadeem Aslam. The data source is the novel which is a story of a Pakistani immigrant family living in England that needs to adapt to British culture. They have to mimic British culture for their survival in society. In the narrative, the nature of mimicry shifts. There are characters and events that can be studied when it comes to mimic. England is a country with great diversity, and its society can be described as a heterogeneous one. In such a community, mixing can be observed, and this mixing leads to mimicry. The researcher assumes that this study will provide new information to readers, particularly students interested in postcolonial discourse. It is also intended that other researchers will do the research in this context, which will not only focus on imitation but also on other postcolonial issues. The findings from the data analysis demonstrate that new hybrid identities of immigrants in The Desert of Loneliness and in their original land are arising as a result of the biased and stereotyped attitude that they encounter from the inhabitants of their native land. The characters that had formed their new identities against the stereotyped ideas of the Western world are Mah-Jabin, the young daughter of Shamas and Kaukab, Charag, Shamas, and Ujala. To escape discriminatory and stereotyped attitudes toward them, the migrants adopt British culture and traditions. Aslam has represented this notion of identity crises with the help of the above-mentioned characters of the novel who try to mimic the Westerners and their culture in the making of a new identity. This practice of imitation leads all the major characters of the novel to identity crises by diluting identity. This study is significant because it highlights the issue of identity addressed by one of the British-Pakistani writers.