Language as a Tool of Racial Power: Linguistic Analysis of Dialogue in Mulk Raj Anand’s Novels

This research examines how Mulk Raj Anand, one of India’s pioneering English-language novelists, employed dialogue as a linguistic mechanism to expose colonial power structures and racial hierarchies in pre-independence India. Through a detailed linguistic analysis of character interactions in Anand’s major works—primarily Untouchable, Coolie, and Two Leaves and a Bud—this study reveals how dialogue functions as both a reflection of social stratification and a tool of resistance. The research applies critical discourse analysis and postcolonial theory to examine patterns of address, code-switching, linguistic appropriation, and silencing that illuminate the intersection of language, race, and power. Findings suggest that Anand deliberately manipulated dialogue to demonstrate how language served as an instrument of racial dominance while simultaneously creating linguistic spaces for subaltern expression. This study contributes to our understanding of colonial linguistic practices and demonstrates how literary representations of dialogue can function as powerful critiques of racial hierarchies embedded in everyday communication.