CULTURAL DISPLACEMENT: A POSTCOLONIAL CRTIQUE OF CHANGES’S IN HAMID’S THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST

Abstract

The study aims to decipher Hamid’s portrayal of Changez from ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ in the light of postcolonial theory. The study traces the journey of Changez Khan, a juvenile adult coming from the fundamentalist Pakistan, into the progressive multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society of America. The present study aims to analyse the social conditions of Muslims in America after the attacks of 9/11. Furthermore, the study aims to unearth the ambiguities around the character of Changez Khan who faces the problem of cultural displacement. The study uses textual analysis as its technique and Edward Said’s concept of cultural displacement as its standpoint. The Orients lose their identity when they start living with Occidents in their respective societies. Changez khan, an Orient from the East faces the same problem of identity crises in America falling prey to the phenomena of cultural displacement resulting in his rebellion and insolence. Hamid tries to portray his dilemma of ‘Cultural Displacement’ to highlight the struggle of postcolonial nationhood. The study uses the text of ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ as its primary source: books, journals, and newspaper articles as secondary sources. The study also looks at the biography of Mohsin Hamid for understanding the cultural and political inclinations of the writer which, according to postcolonial perspective influences the writer’s portrayal of Changez khan as the victim of cultural displacement. The study reaches its essence by concluding the exploitative behaviour of the Occident resulting in degenerating the Orients as argued by Edward Said.

Keywords: Cultural Displacement, Fundamentalist, History, Post-colonialism, 9/11