Postcolonial Longing: Displacement, Identity, And Belonging In A Delhi Obsession By M.G. Vassanji

Abstract

This paper argues that contemporary postcolonial fiction must move beyond earlier preoccupations with colonial trauma and exile to confront present realities, including rising nationalism, selective cultural memory, and fragile diasporic ties. M. G. Vassanji’s A Delhi Obsession illustrates how questions of home, identity, and belonging become increasingly fraught for those negotiating life between cultures. Focusing on the theme of double displacement, the novel portrays a postcolonial Delhi shaped by communal tensions and cultural exclusion. The study demonstrates how Munir and Mohini's relationship becomes entangled in religious and cultural boundaries that conflict with Munir’s remembered homeland. Drawing on Homi K. Bhabha’s concepts of “hybridity” and the “unhomely,” the paper explores how the novel reimagines home and identity for a twice-displaced diasporic subject. Ultimately, it highlights the tension between the romanticised vision of homeland and secular postcolonial ideals, revealing how spaces once imagined as open to plurality now resist it, reshaping both identity and belonging.