Abstract:
A transnational approach to individual identity has come to the fore front recently. This
approach is what Mohsin Hamid is concerned with in his novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, in which
he presents a transnational character displaying the Pakistani experience of migration to America. The
protagonist of the novel, Changez, has bicultural characteristics and his idea of home changes in
accordance with time and space. In the first half of his story, America is the place where Changez feels
"at home." However, there is a particular turning point of life for him, which is the 9/11 attack to the
Twin Towers, and this experience functions as an agent of self-awareness, shifting his sense of
belonging from the host country, that is America, to the homeland, which is Pakistan. Thus, Changez
spiritually returns to the homeland in the second half of his story. While, prior to the 9/11 attack,
Changez enjoys his “Americanness,” represented by the American education, the American girl, and the
American business, his shifted identity after the event brings a consciousness of his “origin,” and in the
end, the “Pakistani Changez” overwhelms his American self. Thus, Hamid displays how fragile and
fragmented identities might become in modern times.
Key words: transnationalism, identity, belonging, home, shift, America, Pakistan
Description:
İnönü Üniversitesi Uluslararası Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi Cilt 4, Sayı 2, 2015, s. 115-122.
