Postcolonial Voices in Contemporary Indian English Poetry: Identity, Diaspora, and Literary Innovation

Abstract

Indian English poetry has undergone significant transformation in the postcolonial era, evolving from the foundational voices of the post-independence generation to a richly heterogeneous contemporary scene shaped by diaspora, gender, caste, regional rootedness, and the affordances of digital publishing. This article examines postcolonial voices in contemporary Indian English poetry, focusing on how identity, diaspora, and literary innovation intersect in poetic production from the late twentieth century to the present. Drawing on a critical literature review methodology, the study analyses peer-reviewed scholarship and curated literary criticism published between 2010 and 2025. The analysis identifies four interlocking dimensions of contemporary Indian English poetry: the negotiation of postcolonial identity across multiple axes including gender, caste, region, and sexuality; the diasporic imagination and the reconfiguration of homeland and elsewhere; formal and linguistic innovation including code-mixing, prose poetry, and experimental forms; and the digital and small-press publishing ecosystem that has expanded poetic visibility. The study draws on postcolonial theory including the work of Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Edward Said, alongside Indian literary scholarship by Bruce King, Eunice de Souza, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, and others. Findings indicate that contemporary Indian English poetry is best understood not as a unified tradition but as a dynamic field of competing voices, each negotiating the inheritances of colonialism, the politics of identity, and the possibilities of literary innovation. The article concludes with implications for literary studies, anthology making, and the teaching of Indian English literature.