NEGOTIATING IDENTITIES THROUGH LANGUAGE: BILINGUAL ACCULTURATION IN HOSSEINI’S THE KITE RUNNER AND A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

Abstract

Afghan diasporic literature portrays the plight of displacement, identity, and the struggle to adjust to new environments and interactions, narrating the stories of bilingual lives and cultural negotiations over several boundaries. This study focuses on bilingual acculturation and Khaled Hosseini’s two novels, The Kite Runner (2003) and A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), analyzing from the point of view of language how identities are negotiated. It highlights the relationship of bilingualism and culture in the phenomena of immigration and transition, where the characters earn hybrid identities of belonging, alienation, and culture. Following Berry’s (1997) Acculturation Model, the study emphasizes bilingualism as more than a means of communication; rather, it is a cultural identifier that influences the forms of acculturation: assimilation, integration, separation, and resistance. The study analyzes the themes of Hosseini’s novels and the ways his characters cope with Afghan traditions and Western influences, thereby addressing the socio-psychological aspects of migration. The research highlights the negotiation of identity through language in Hosseini’s works and the complexities of diasporic and multicultural identities, as well as the silenced voices in immigrant literature.