A Postcolonial Study: Abolition of Native Language by Invaders in Munshi Premchand’s My Elder Brother

Abstract

Munshi Premchand was one of the prominent Indian Writers in Hindi and Urdu. His works were mainly focused on important social issues of his period. This study analyses his work “My Elder Brother” where he depicts the relationship of two brothers. He explains the divergence between them. This attitude indicates that he also had a different opinion than other writers. Because, other writers preferred to write in English language. But, he used to write in his native language. This study examines how Indians are easily adopted to English language. Through the character of Elder brother, it was understood that Younger generation don’t know about their native language but they knew about British and their language. It had happened because of the British Education system. Premchand believed that this system eradicated the native language and it made people learn English. So, he focused on the displacement of Native Language by the invaders. Similarly, Post- Colonial Writer Ngugi Wa Thiong’o was against the abolition of Native Languages in Africa. Premchand scrutinized the people who learned English in India. This paper explores how British infused their language to India and abolished native language.