From Colonial Mimicry to Postcolonial Hybridity. A study of Rudyard Kipling’s Kim (1901) and Mohammed Dib’s L’infante Maure (1994)

Abstract

This research paper is a postcolonial comparative study of Rudyard Kipling’s Kim (1901) and Mohammed Dib L’Infante Maure (1994). To carry out this study, we have relied on Homi Bhabha’s The Location of Culture (1994). Focus has been laid on the way the concept of “hybridity” is introduced and developed through different periods of time in the two works and how it influences the culture and identity of the two protagonists. In the first chapter, we have analyzed Kipling’s novel in the perspective of colonial mimicry and have shown how British Empire uses mimicry to over control the natives and how it influences the lives and identity of the Indians and Kim. We found out that Kim has hybrid identity, he assimilated the two cultures. He works with the British Empire and behaves like a native. In the second chapter, we have dealt with Dib’s novel in terms of postcolonial hybridity and come to the conclusion that Lyyli doesn’t want to choose between the different cultures of her parents and undertakes a journey of self-discovery. In the last chapter, we have studied the different views of hybridity in terms of “third space” and “fixity” in Bhabha’s theory and Dib’s novel. We have shown that Dib refuses the concept of “fixity” and asserts that having two cultures is a privilege, and enrichment to individuals. We have also shown that the goal of Dib’s novel is more universal then individual. We have concluded that the two protagonists have a double cultures because of hybridity and both of them learn about their belongings during the journey that they undertake.