The Politics of Code Switching and Code Mixing - A critical Study of Arundhati Roy’s Novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness in the Postcolonial Discourse Perspective - Article

Oct 15, 2026

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The study investigates code-switching and code mixing strategies in Arundhati Roy’s novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness to analyze linguistic hybridity and cultural syncreticity as a vantage point challenging Western discourses. It examines how these practices deconstruct binary oppositions within postcolonial disruptive discourse, and assesses the authenticity and pragmatic value of Roy’s counter-discursive approach. The research further highlights pedagogical, theoretical, and analytical relevance for postcolonial Anglophone South Asia, Africa, West Indies, and settler colonies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Roy’s literary and political positioning

Postcolonial decolonization through language

Article metadata

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 [www.alls.aiac.org.au](www.alls.aiac.org.au) | The Politics of Code Switching and Code Mixing: A critical Study ofArundhati Roy’s Novel the Ministry of Utmost Happiness in the Postcolonial Discourse Perspective
IesarAhmad*
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Corresponding Author: IesarAhmad, [E-mail:iaahmad@ksu.edu.sa](E-mail:iaahmad@ksu.edu.sa) | | | --- | --- | | ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT
This study is an attempt to investigate the code-switching and code mixing (CS and CM) strategies deployed by Arundhati Roy (Roy) in the novel,‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’(MOUH) in terms of the linguistic hybridity and cultural syncreticity as an vantage site to contest and mediate the presumptive purity, representation, authenticity and universality of the western discourses and its discursive norms. In addition, it explores how such linguistic and literary practices deconstruct and decolonize the binary opposition like “speech/writing” “self/Other””“Presence/Absence’in the postcolonial disruptive discourse perspective. The core aim of the study is also to investigate the authenticity of the CS and CM strategies employed by the postcolonial writers like Roy consciously or unconsciously to foreground the difference and ambivalence in their counter discourse perspective. The study has also a great significance in terms of the pedagogical, theoretical, and analytical perspective in the postcolonial settings of Anglophone south Asia, western Africa, West Indies as well as in the settler colonies. The research design focuses on the analysis and interpretation of the selected and identified texts specifically from the novel MOUH and generally from other postcolonial discourses in the context of the interpretative epistemology, deconstructivity and postcolonial discourse perspective. The study concludes that such textual practices of code mixing and code switching are also authentic and pragmatic; which simultaneously also reflect an alternative vantage site to address the metonymic gaps in terms of difference, identity, hybridity and representation of the ex-colonized and marginalized nations in the context of overwhelming globalization and neo-colonialism. The study also affirms and recommends that in this age of melting zones, widespread migration and globalization; linguistic variations and cultural diversities must be celebrated as a privileged site of difference and plurality. It also suggests that the creative English writers like Arundhati Roy and their narratives may be encouraged and disseminated in order to demystify the misrepresentation, misperception, misconception, and mistrust between the Anglo-American’s Discourse shaper and mover, and the peripheral counter discourses in terms of the mediation and constant engaging contest and conflict across the globe. | | Article history
Received: March 19, 2019
Accepted: June 13, 2019
Published: August 31, 2019
Volume: 10 Issue: 4
Advance access: July 2019 | | | Conflicts of interest: None
Funding: None | | | Key words:
Western Discourses, Counter Discourses, Code-switching, Code-mixing, Decolonization, Representation | | INTRODUCTION To many literary writers and critics of the South Asia literary landscape, Roy is one of the most celebrated Indian novelists and political activists. For instance, her novel god of small things has been hailed as a great literary artifact, which has attracted global readership. With the publication of this novel; she has been shot to the limelight and received highest literary awards like Man Booker Prize. In addition, she has also published critical essays, and powerful political speeches, journalistic writings and interviews, which have been compiled in the many literary works till now. In her second much awaited novel MOUH is published in 2017, after the phenomenal gap of almost two decades. In both her novels, along with these critical and poli

FAQs

What linguistic phenomena does the study focus on in Roy’s novel?

The study focuses on code-switching and code mixing (CS and CM) strategies used in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. It links them to linguistic hybridity and cultural syncreticity in a postcolonial frame.

How does the study connect Roy’s textual practices to postcolonial theory?

It argues that CS and CM deconstruct postcolonial binary oppositions such as speech/writing and self/Other. It frames these practices as counter-discursive means to contest Western presumptions of purity and universality.

What broader significance does the paper claim for these strategies?

The paper claims the strategies are authentic and pragmatic, offering an alternative vantage to address gaps in difference, identity, and representation under globalization and neo-colonialism. It also recommends valuing linguistic variations and cultural diversities as plurality.

Oct 15, 2026

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