Postcolonial Study of “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”

ByAzam Sarwar

Glocal identity(A mixture of global and local)

A term newly coined by Postcolonial scholars to show the ever clashing mixture of global and local dualities in immigrants’ personalities.

DressLanguage

In this photograph child (from Hunza) can be seen donning a traditional local cap, while dressed in “Western” dress.

Name: CHANGEZCountry/City: USA, New YorkNationality: AmericanOccupation: Underwood SamsonMission: “Focus on the fundamentals”Special traits: businessman, suit

Name: CHANGEZCountry/City: Pakistan, LahoreNationality: PakistaniOccupation: university lecturerMission: ‘advocate for a disengagement from the USASpecial traits: beard, kurta

Glocal Identity in “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”“I was not certain where I belonged---- in

New York, in Lahore, in both, in neither.”“Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance?

Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard: I am a lover of America.”(p.1)

“I am both a native of this city and a speaker of your language,” (p.1)

Changez’s multiple identities

Changez leads demonstrations against US

“The East writes back”Edward Said: “the East writes back”This novel is a reaction to the discourse of

colonization from the Pakistani side (which stands for the East) and welcomes de-colonization.

Changez’s reaction to American attack on Afghanistan

“Afghanistan was Pakistan’s neighbour, our friend, and a fellow Muslim nation.” p.114

East meets West/ East vs WestChangez Erica

East West(Pak) (US)Dismantle relation“Are you missing Chris?” She nodded,I said, “ pretend I am him.”

Pak-US relations

“Hegemony”“Hegemony is the power of the ruling class to convince

other classes that their interests are the interests of all.”“domination by consent.”

(Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. Post-colonial Studies: The Key Concepts. New York: Routledge, 2001. Print.)

Globalization is a myth and what is actually taking place is the spread of American values, power and products across the globe. Or in other words the American hegemony.

Hegemony Cont…Economic hegemonyUnderwood SamsonJuan-Bautista: “may I ask you rather personal

question?”Changez: “Certainley”Jaun-Bautista: “Does it trouble you to make

your living by disrupting the lives of others?”

"Hybridity"“Hybridity has frequently been used in post-

colonialdiscourse to mean simply cross-cultural ‘exchange’. “Hybridity commonly refers to the creation of

new transcultural forms.”

(Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin. Post-colonial Studies: The Key Concepts. New York: Routledge, 2001. Print.)

Hybridization takes many forms: linguistic, cultural, political, racial, etc.

Cultural hybridity

Changez drinks wine

“As we took our seats for the meal, he lifted a bottle of red wine and said to me, ‘You drink?’ ‘He’s twenty-two,’ Erica’s mother said on my behalf.” p.32

Girlfriend

“Neo-liberalism”A type of liberalism that believes in a global

free market, without government regulation, with businesses and industry controlled and run for profit by private owners

Underwood Samson, in Changez’s view, is the clear example of the soullessness of the West.

Their job epitomizes capitalism to its very core through the ability to place “value”.

“Neo-liberalism” cont…“Does it trouble you to make your living by

disrupting the lives of others?”“We just value.”

“Diaspora” The voluntary or enforced migration of

peoples from their native homelands.  Diaspora literature is often concerned with questions of maintaining or altering identity, language, and culture while  in another culture or country.

(http://www3.dbu.edu/mitchell/postcold.htm

White & western superiority vs. coloured & colonial inferiority

“I flew to New York uncomfortable in my own face .” p.44

“When we arrived, I was separated from my team at immigration. They joined the queue for American citizens; I joined the one for foreigners.” p.44

Alterity The state of being different or other

(Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin 11)

The state of being other or different; diversity, ‘otherness.’ (Oxford English Dictionary)

After 9/11 attack Changez fails to feel like he fits in as a part of his community.