Deconstruction of the Novel ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ in the light of Edward Said’s Orientalism
Tshering Tshomo *
Language, Gongzim Ugyen Dorji Central School, Haa, Bhutan.
Phub Dorji
Language, Gedu College of Business Studies, Royal University of Bhutan, Chukha, Bhutan.
. Yangzom
Research and Industrial Linkages, Gedu College of Business Studies, Royal University of Bhutan, Chukha, Bhutan.
Sonam Yonten
ICT and Physics, Gongzim Ugyen Dorji Central School, Haa, Bhutan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Edward Said's Orientalism details how the concept of the East is constructed and crystalized by the West, befitting what they see fit. He describes how the literary works from the West captured this attitude and thus how the perceived perception created a bias in how the West thought about and treated the East. Mohsin Hamid has intricately woven the features of orientalism in his metafictional novel “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”. This paper presents a brief discussion on Orientalism followed by the discussion on The Reluctant Fundamentalist in the light of Said’s Orientalism. Four key Orientalist themes (Political Discourse and Power, Cultural Imperialism, Identity Crisis, and Western Hegemony) tied to the features of Orientalism are analyzed to explain the author’s ultimate motives.
Keywords: Animal Cytotaxonomy, Orientalism, Crustacean Chromosomes, political discourse, Crab Cytology, power, cultural imperialism, identity crisis, western hegemony