Colonial Politics and Problem of Language in David Malouf’s Remembering Babylon

Abstract

Language plays a critical role in postcolonial literature. English has been the dominant language of European imperialism that carried the European culture to the different colonies across the world. Australia is the settled countries where English has become not only the official and mainstream language of the country but has also put the indigenous languages on the verge of extinction. David Malouf’s Remembering Babylon is a postcolonial text that re-imagines the colonial history of Australian settlement presenting the early socio- cultural and linguistic clashes between the settlers and the Aboriginals. The present paper tries to analyze the various dimensions of language envisioning its micro to macro impacts on the individual, community and nation as well. British used English language as the weapon of spreading European culture in Australia causing the systematic replacement of local dialects and other vernacular languages; hence the issues of linguistic and cultural identities would also be among the focal points of the discussion. The paper also attempts to examine how David Malouf provides a solution by preferring and appropriating native languages and culture for the future ofs Australia.