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@article{187039,
        author = {Khadija Lokhandwala},
        title = {The Appropriation and Abrogation of Language in Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {6},
        pages = {3359-3361},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=187039},
        abstract = {This essay attempts to examine Amitav Ghosh’s re-structuring of the English language in his postcolonial masterpiece Sea of Poppies. In this remarkably well-researched historical narrative, Ghosh exemplifies the re-moulding of language in a multilingual society colonised by the British. He introduces and blends an array of languages through his varied and diverse characters, resulting in a powerful abrogation of “standard” English and a deliberate appropriation of a language that was used to rule over the colonial subjects.
This constant shift and transformation in the linguistic landscape of Ghosh’s novel offers a rich perspective into the reality of language use in history; dismantling the idea of a “standard” or correct way of using a language
The primary point of reference for this study has been The Empire Writes Back by Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin; wherein a part of their work focuses on the re-structuring of language that inevitably results due to colonialism.
This paper investigates the unapologetic use of appropriation and abrogation concepts explored in The Empire Writes Back that arms Ghosh’s linguistic exploration of the “languages” used by the characters and the narrative form of the text itself.},
        keywords = {Postcolonialism, language, linguistics, appropriation, abrogation, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies.},
        month = {November},
        }