Negotiating Identity through Code-Switching: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Bapsi Sidhwa’s An American Brat

Abstract

In multilingual and multicultural contexts, language plays a vital role in shaping and expressing identity. One significant linguistic phenomenon, code-switching, the alternation between two or more languages or language varieties serve as a powerful tool for negotiating cultural belonging and self-representation. This study examines code-switching as a strategy of identity negotiation in Bapsi Sidhwa’s An American Brat (1993), a novel that traces the transnational journey of Feroza Ginwalla, a young Parsi girl from Pakistan who undergoes a cultural transformation in the United States. The primary objective is to analyze how Feroza’s code-switching reflects her evolving identity, highlighting tensions between tradition and modernity, and between her native and adopted cultures. This research adopts a sociolinguistic and discourse-analytic framework, drawing on the works of Carol Myers-Scotton and Peter Auer (1993) to interpret how code-switching conveys social positioning, resistance, and assimilation. The findings of the study suggest that Feroza’s shifting language use mirrors her personal growth and the complexities of diasporic identity. Code-switching emerges as a site of cultural negotiation, where language both challenges and redefines boundaries. The study contributes to sociolinguistic and postcolonial scholarship and suggests further research into how multilingualism in literature reflects real-world identity formation among diasporic communities navigating hybrid cultural landscapes.