Exploration of Ethnic Nationalism in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss

Abstract

The novel, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai explores how ethnicity is constituted through the discourse of nationalism. Nationalist politics as represented in The Inheritance of Loss becomes a major venue for accomplishing masculinity. In the novel, Gorkha ethnic identity becomes the driving force for the ethnic nationalism of Indian Nepalese fighting for Gorkhaland. Kiran Desai uses the socio- political turmoil to present vivid point pictures of the social, cultural and political conditions of India. To prove the thesis statement, data for this research were collected from textual reading and analytical library research. The primary and secondary data were reviewed focusing authentic, academic, and commercial references.