NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE AND POSTCOLONIAL LINGUISTIC IDENTITY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHINUA ACHEBE, CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE, AND SALMAN RUSHDIE

Abstract

This paper investigates how postcolonial writers employ narrative technique and linguistic innovation to construct identities within English literatures. Focusing on Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Salman Rushdie, the study demonstrates how language is reshaped to resist colonial hegemony while simultaneously articulating cultural hybridity. Achebe redefines the colonial English novel through the incorporation of Igbo proverbs, oral traditions, and indigenous worldviews, situating African English within literary modernity. Adichie, writing in the 21st century, blends Standard English with Nigerian idioms and code-switching, foregrounding issues of migration, transnational identity, and gender politics. Rushdie’s postmodern linguistic experimentation, including magical realism, multilingual wordplay, and fractured narrative structures, exemplifies how South Asian diasporic writers negotiate the politics of English in a globalized literary marketplace. The analysis draws on postcolonial stylistics and discourse theory to trace how these authors transform English into a vehicle of cultural reclamation rather than subjugation. By situating these writers within comparative frameworks, the paper highlights the continuity and divergence in postcolonial linguistic strategies across African and South Asian traditions. The findings reveal that narrative voice is not merely aesthetic but also deeply political, enabling marginalized communities to inscribe their presence within English literary canons. Ultimately, the study underscores the evolving relationship between language and identity in postcolonial literatures, advancing new perspectives for both stylistics and comparative literary studies.