A critique of Sea of Poppies in the light of Hoffmann’s types of code-switching

This research seeks to analyse Amitav Gosh’s novel Sea of Poppies in order to explore the sociolinguistic strategy of code-switching with respect to its various types. The term 'code-switching' denotes the connection of elements from multilingual interaction. This phenomenon has been approached by various sociolinguists, linguists, anthropologists and sociologists. It refers to mixing between various languages to a certain extent that confuses the traditional sociolinguistic conventions. The study also focuses on the close ties between various languages and their strong impact on structure of Standard English as manifested in the selected text. The research is qualitative and descriptive, and the data has been taken from the textual conversations and dialogues of various characters of the novel. It attempts to classify code-switching into its different types exemplified by the selected data. This research attempts to highlight the variety of English language used in the literary milieu of contemporary India. It explores the text through application of Charlotte Hoffmann’s theory proposed in her 1991 book An Introduction to Bilingualism. Moreover, content analysis as a research method is used to trace the presence of code-switching in certain words, dialogues and conversations between the characters. It finds out the distinct varieties of English (Pakistani and Indian) as mininarratives against the single Standard English in order to explore that English Indian fiction writers use native words in their work/novels to describe local lifestyles, culture, food, relationships, and religion.