Sustenance of Native Culture in Multilingual Written Texts: A Case Study of The God of Small Things and The Hungry Tide

SANGEETA MUKHERJEE
Vellore Institute of Technology University, India

Abstract
Literary multilingualism has been dexterously used by the Indian English writers to reflect the cultural and behavioral style of the characters and make the setting realistic. The paper attempts to identify and analyze the kinds of literary techniques used in Indian English fiction and how through the use of these techniques, the writers have tried to sustain the native culture in the setting of the novel. The tools chosen for analysis include translated proverbs, songs and religious verse and the methodology preferred for this purpose is narrative methodology. The analysis of these devices in the textual background shows that in the Indian English fiction, the native culture in the setting of the novel can best be sustained by the use of native elements.
Keywords: Literary multilingualism, sustainability, Indian English, culture, proverbs, religious verse

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Dr. Sangeeta Mukherjee teaches English and Linguistics at Vellore Institute of Technology University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu (India). She is the author of the book titled, The Localization of English in Indian Contexts: A Linguistic Analysis of Kanthapura, The God of Small Things and The Hungry Tide and has also guest-edited the Special Issue on Pragmatics in International Journal of Communication. Her areas of research interest are: Pragmatics, Applied Linguistics, Indian English literature, Communication and Film Studies.