A New Historicist Study of Mohsin Hamid's Novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

Abstract

The study examines Mohsin Hamid’s novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist from the perspective of New Historicism. The novel is written against the backdrop of pre- and post-9/11 events, revealing the transnational journey of Changez from Lahore to the United States and his return to Pakistan, his homeland. The mode of the study is qualitative and descriptive in nature; The researchers depend upon textual analysis in this regard. The New Historical study analyzes a work of literature keeping in view the cultural and political situations of the time in which it is produced. Hence, it considers any work as a product of its time. The study shows that Hamid depicts the 9/11 from a Pakistani perspective through the character of Changez, a Pakistani who works for Underwood Sampson in the U.S. It also   explores that the novel is allegorical in nature as it reveals the history of 9/11 and its effect on the lives of the Muslims of the West. Finally, the two main characters in the novel are also symbolic, as Changez is associated with Pakistan, while the stranger represents United States, signifying the trust deficit between  the two countries Pakistan and United States

Key words:  New Historicism, History, Identity, 9/11