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Dehumanization of Muslim Identity after 9/11: An Orientalist Gaze at Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist-Novel and Film
Sana Gul, Saad Salman, & Kamal Saeed
Abstract:
Edward Said’s Orientalism examines how the West constructs and reinforces a distorted image of the East, shaping perceptions to fit its own ideological and political interests. Said highlights how Western literary and cultural representations perpetuate these biases, influencing global power structures and shaping interactions between the two worlds. Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist weaves elements of Orientalism, offering a metafictional critique of Western hegemony, Islamophobia, and the dehumanization of Muslim identity in a post-9/11 world. The novel challenges dominant Western narratives by presenting an alternative perspective, forcing readers to question the reliability of the Western gaze. This paper examines The Reluctant Fundamentalist in light of Said’s theory, analyzing how Hamid subverts Orientalist discourse through two key themes—Orientalism and identity. By exposing stereotypes and the West’s desire to define and control the East, the novel critiques the rigid binaries of East and West. Ultimately, this paper argues that Hamid’s novel serves as a counter-narrative, reclaiming agency for marginalized voices and illustrating the complexities of identity in a globalized, postcolonial world.
Keywords:
Identity, Orientalism, September 11, 2011, Orient, Dehumanization, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid
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