Blurry Borders and Identity in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Abstract

This essay explores the viability of developing non-dualistic identities in a globalized world that imposes neo-imperialistic hierarchies like old/new, east/west, oppressed/oppressor, and terrorist/terrorized. Incorporating theories of the contact zone (Mary Pratt), translocality, contemporary coloniality (Derek Gregory), and moving through dualisms (Deleuze and Parnet, Homi Bhabha), I analyze how Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist brings together past and present in seemingly distant spaces like Pakistan, the United States, and Chile. Although it has often been interpreted as a post-9/11 novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist challenges linear spatiotemporal structures that lend themselves to neat conclusions. This article approaches Chile as a turning point where the nation-bound mindset foregrounded in the beginning of the novel gives way to an alternative framework of interconnectedness. Yet this paradigm shift is narrated through a monologic form that makes it impossible to determine if the novel is moving towards a stable identity or one based on constant change. By not resolving this interpretive dilemma, The Reluctant Fundamentalist envisions a liminal political self that challenges neo-imperialism by oscillating between then and now, here and there.