Blurry Borders and Identities in Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist

OpenAlex · English

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, translocality, and contemporary coloniality, I analyze how Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) blurs the division between past and present and shows how seemingly distant spaces like Pakistan, the United States, and Chile are all connected. 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 way of thinking about interconnectedness. Yet this paradigm shift is narrated through a monologic form that makes it impossible to determine if the novel endorses the idea of a stable identity or prefers one that changes constantly. 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.