Home as a Liminal Space in Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte (2019)

This essay investigates the concept of dwelling as liminal space in Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte (2019). In postcolonial theory, the concept of home includes the discussion of public and private physical spaces as well as the issues of identity and social status of an individual inhabiting them. Homi Bhabha claims that such spaces create an environment for new forms of selfhood to emerge. In Quichotte, the portrayal of Sister reveals the formation of identity within the liminal space originating in between Indian and British cultures. The motif of carnival as a trope of cultural hybridity shapes this liminal space by introducing the element of transformation into the narrative. Carnival impacts the space of dwelling through multiple strategies, collaborative and dialogical as well as antagonistic and conflictual. These strategies have a formative effect on Sister’s identity, both individual and communal: her challenges have their source in her childhood home in Bombay. In this essay, the Bombay home as a liminal space is viewed through the concept of unhomely space introduced by Bhabha. This type of dwelling is characterised by the invasion of public life into private space and the traumatic personal experiences faced by its inhabitants.