Title: The Irreconcilable conflict: Emerging trends in post-colonial Families.

The substitution of the social structure in colonial India with that of the British model (imposed as

well as emulated) in every respect (education, family, industry, urban setting etc) has finally culmi-

nated into a new hybrid culture since independence. These changes have also injected western values

into the post-colonial Indian families which have percolated systematically through media and the

education system. The already existing caste system coupled with the new class division have further

complicated the family structures thereby destabilising the family values beyond repair. Such con-

flicts in the families arising out of the confluence of cultures (colonial legacy) is now being seriously

scrutinised by the writers and intellectuals. Whereas the old values link one to one’s root, the new

values tend to liberate the individual of many social taboos but at the same time it also poses a threat

on the individual’s identity as the process itself severs the ties of the individual with his family and

his roots. This problem has been well address by Mamang Dai in her fiction Stupid Cupid. The female

protagonist of the novel Adna is an educated lady (a product of the new education system) who is

liberal in her outlook and so also in her relationships. This not only alienates her from her family but

also from her birthplace. The life which she actually wants to live can never be fulfilled in her rural

birthplace and that is why she moves to the Delhi (a new space), an urban setting which itself is the

replica of colonial legacy of industrialisation. The industrialisation has also accelerated in the urban-

isation process thereby letting the families migrate to new areas where they are not only divorced

from their past, but also take in new values that shape their new identities. These new identities are

actually very rootless which can cause severe identity crisis. The writer beautifully poses the problem

but doesn’t offer a solution to it, leaving it open for the readers to figure out the outcome and possi-

bilities of such crisis. This paper proposes to objectively analyse the nuances of family structure and

values that is resulting into a loss of the self because of the loss of identity.

Key words: Hybrid culture, space, identity crisis.

Dr. Debajyoti Biswas.

Assistant Professor.
Department of English.
Bodoland University, Kokrajhar.
Assam.
Pin - 873370
India.