A Study of Indigenous Celebration In “The Reluctant
Fundamentalist” By Mohsin Hamid
Introduction
Indigenous celebration is the issue
related to the postcolonial writings.The Term postcolonial covers all the
cultures affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonization till
the present day. The adjective indigenous is derived from the Latin etymology
meaning “native” or “born within”. During the late twentieth century, the term
indigenous people evolved which refers to culturally distinct groups that had
been affected by the process of colonization.
During colonization indigenousness of the
colonized was suppressed by colonizers. The native culture was considered
inferior. So in the pretext of making the natives civilized, indigenous culture
was dominated by the so called superior and civilized culture of colonizers.
Even after the period of colonialism, indigenous suppression is being done by
the process of neo colonization. Indigenous people try to mimic the culture of
colonizers, but they are not accepted by the colonizers as equal to them. So
there has been a movement in the postcolonial literature to reject the
superiority of foreign culture and to present the uniqueness of the native
culture and it is called the indigenous celebration or the celebration of
indigenous culture.
Postcolonial writers are writing to
spread the message that there is no individuality and identity without being
native. So the natives should be proud of what they are and what the indigenous
culture they own. For example, Chinua Achebe in “Things Fall Apart” and Bepsi Sidhwa in “The Ice Candy Man”, and
“American Brat”, have presented this theme.
Mohsin Hamid is postcolonial Pakistani
writer and in his novels, “Moth Smoke”, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” and “How
to get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia” he presents the Pakistani indigenous culture
with love and pride . This research will focus on identifying the elements of Pakistani indigenous culture in the novel
“The Reluctant Fundamentalist”. As a Postcolonial writer, he highlights the
fact that no indigenous culture is inferior but it may have some special
charecteristics that the other so called superior cultures lack.
Postcolonial theory provides the
background for this research specially in the context of neo colonization. So
the theories of postcolonial theorists Frantz Fanon, Edward Said and Spivak
will be discussed in relation to the indigenous celebration. Today, America has
adopted the role as a neo colonizer.The novel “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”
shows this neo colonization of America by presenting Changez,the protagonist of
the novel trying to mimic American culture while considering himself as a New
Yorker. But soon he realizes that he has no individuality and identity in
adopting foreignness. So now he confidently owns his Pakistani indigenous
culture and to celebrate it, he returns to his roots, his culture and civilization.
Statement of The Problem
The research highlights the significance of the indigenous celebration
in the postcolonial literature.It aims at identifying the special and unique
characteristics of Pakistani indigenous culture. Indigenous elements presented
in the novel will be analyzed to show the writer’s love and pride for his indigenous culture.
Objectives of the Study
The following objectives will be kept in
mind during the study:
1.To find out the indigenous elements
presented in the novel
2.To highlight the significance of indigenous celebration in the postcolonial
literature
3.To identify the unique charecteristics of
Pakistani indigenous culture mentioned in the novel
Research Questions
1. what is the significance of indigenous
celebration in the postcolonial perspective of the novel?
2. How does Mohsin Hamid deal with the
different indigenous elements of Pakistani
culture?
3.What is the influence of indigenous
attatchment on the life of Changez?
Literature Review
Indigenous celebration has its roots in
the postcolonial theory. Many notable postcolonial theorists have discussed the
significance of indigenous culture. Edward Said in “Culture And Imperialism,
has described the effects of imperialism and colonialism on indigenous culture.
In his work “Orientalism” he mentions the binary of occident and orient. He
clarifies that the concept of the ‘East’ i.e the orient was created by the
‘West’ suppressing the ability of the ‘Orient’ to express themselves. So to
show themselves as superior nation, West depicted the ‘Orient’ as inferior
people having the inferior culture.
Spivak in his article “Can The
Subaltern Speak” criticizes those who ignore the ‘cultural others’ or
subaltern. He has offered the constructive theories for allowing the west to go
beyond its current position through self- criticism of western method and
ideals of understanding. So regarding the Spivak’s idea of subaltern, the postcolonial writers
with the history of colonialism that were once made subaltern, are now speaking
about their indigenous culture, individuality and identity as equal to that of
colonizers.
Homi.K.Bhabha in “Of Mimicry And Man”
makes it clear that when members of a colonized society imitate the language,
dress, politics or cultural attitude of colonizers under colonialism and in the
context of immigration, mimicry is seen as an opportunistic pattern of behavior
one copies the person in power, because one hopes to have access to that same
power oneself. Presumably, while copying the master, one has to suppress one’s
own cultural identity, though in some cases immigrants and colonial subjects
are left confused by their cultural encounter with a dominant foreign culture.
The works and theories
mentioned above show the importance of
indigenous culture because it gives the sense of belonging, individuality and
identity. Many postcolonial writers seem to celebrate the indigenous culture to
make the colonizers and neo colonizers realize that every indigenous culture is
unique in its own way, so no one has the right to consider it inferior. For
example, Chinua Achebe in “Things Fall Apart" challenges the notion of
white men as being superior to the naitves. He emphasizes the fact that naitve
people have their own culture, customs, traditions, religion, and values and
they have happy and peaceful lives. But
the white men try to impose their culture and civilization and the result is
just destruction. The things that were once united, began to scatter after intrusion of foreign culture.
Mohsin Hamid as a postcolonial writer has
presented the indigenous elements in his novels. The protagonist, Changez
in “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” has a
special attachment with his Pakistani Indigenousness in relation to the food,
dress, language etc. And in the end, he is able to own this attachment with
love and pride. Throught the novel, he is found mentioning the unique
charecteristics of his indigenous culture.
Methodology
By approach, my research will be qualitative. The text of “The Reluctant
Fundamentalist” by Mohsin Hamid, will be
analyzed. The different interpretatios of the text will be given and discussion
on the research issue will be supported with the critics views, book reviews,
interviews and biography of the novelist. The research will include the
postcolonial theories related to the issue of indigenous celebration in order
to gain proper insight of the research problem.
This study is going to be based upon the dialogues of the charecters
related to the indigenous celebration. To understand the writer’s point of
view, the dialogues will be analyzed thematically and stylistically.It is hoped
that the study will promote the idea of indigenous celebration to be more
confident about one’s own identity and individuality as mentioned in the
postcolonial literature.
Conceptual Framework
The research will be begun by giving the
background of indigenous celebration. The theories related to the research
issue will be described. Analysis of the text of “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”
will be done at the next stage. The dialogues of the characters will be
analyzed in the postcolonial perspective of the indigenous celebration.
Delimitation
For the purpose of research, this study
has been limited to the textual analysis of Mohsin Hamid’s novel “The Reluctant
Fundamentalist”.
Chapter Division
CHAPTER 1: Introduction
CHAPTER 2: Literature Review
CHAPTER 3: Methodology
CHAPTER 4: Textual Analysis
CHAPTER 5: Conclusion
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