The Other, Migration and Global Capital—A Review of Research on Mohsin Hamid’s Novels
In the present era of rapid globalization, research on transnational identities and critiques of capitalism has become focal concerns in Anglophone literary studies. Pakistani-born British writer Mohsin Hamid is especially representative due to his distinctive artistic techniques and focus on globalization themes. This paper focuses on three main topics— “the Other and identity” “migration and refugee writing” and “critique of global capital” to review the literature. By tracing the main research threads and representative viewpoints at home and abroad, one can observe that overseas scholarship has progressed from postcolonial cultural representations toward theories of biopolitics and capital critique, while domestic research shows a new trend of expanding from criticism of Orientalism to interdisciplinary integration. Overall, current research still has shortcomings in terms of textual coverage, analysis of textual language, and comparative studies. Future research could further explore dimensions such as the narrative language of the novels, cross-linguistic comparisons, and digital humanities methods to deepen understanding and interpretation of Hamid’s works.
References
- Xie: The Other’s Quest for Roots: Changez’s Identity in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, China & Foreign Entrepreneurs, (2016) No. 5, p. 242–243.
- G. Zeng and C. Jiang: “The East” Writing “the West”: A Review of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, New Perspectives on World Literature, (2013) No. 5, p. 46–48.
- J. Xue: East–West Dialogue in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, China & Foreign Entrepreneurs, (2015) No. 15, p. 256.
- Y. Wu: Hybrid Identity of Diasporic People: A Bhabha-Based Analysis of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Masterpieces Review, (2017) No. 9, p. 55–56, 76.
- Y. Zhao: Identity of “the Other” in The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Ph.D., Heilongjiang University, China 2019).
- W. Gu and X. Sheng: A Feminist Critical Analysis of Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke, Journal of Chuzhou University, Vol. 22 (2020) No. 6, p. 44–46, 56.
- D. Munos: Possessed by Whiteness: Interracial Affiliations and Racial Melancholia in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Vol. 48 (2011) No. 4, p. 396–405.
- M. Malik, S. Ahmed and M. Ehtsham: The Narrative of Hybrid Identity in the Third Space: A Critique of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, Vol. 8 (2021) No. 1, p. 51–56.
- M. Qadar, S. Rizwan and Z. Ahmad: The Concept of Post-colonial Othering in The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, Global Language Review, Vol. 8 (2023) No. 4, p. 536–546.
- A. Braz: 9/11, 9/11: Chile and Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, Vol. 42 (2015) No. 3, p. 241–256.
- A. Ghosh: “I Was Not Certain Where I Belonged”: Integration and Alienation in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, Vol. 5 (2013) No. 1, p. 48–54.
- M. Hamid: Slaying Dragons: Mohsin Hamid Discusses The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Psychoanalysis and History, Vol. 11 (2009) No. 2, p. 225–237.
- J. Zhao: Overlapping Diasporic Space and Hybrid Migrant Identity: Reading Exit West, Journal of Hebei Normal University (Philosophy & Social Sciences), Vol. 46 (2023) No. 2, p. 75–82.
- R. Zhu: Constructing a Post-national Ethical Community in the Refugee Novel Exit West, Contemporary Foreign Literature, Vol. 41 (2020) No. 4, p. 80–87.
- C. Huang and H. Lou: The Arduous Journey of Constructing Transnational Refugee Identity in Exit West, Journal of Wuyi University (Social Science Edition), Vol. 25 (2023) No. 3, p. 44–48, 93.
- X. Wang: Transnational Writing in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West (Ph.D., Qingdao University, China 2022)
- X. Wang: Technological Permeation in the Refugee Novel Exit West, Literature Education, (2021) No. 10, p. 130–131.
- J. Carter: How Far Are We Prepared to Go? Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West and the Refugee Crisis, Textual Practice, Vol. 35 (2021) No. 4, p. 619–638.
- A. Karki: Refugees in Tribal Global Village in Habiburahman and Mohsin Hamid, Literary Studies, Vol. 36 (2023) No. 1, p. 168–180.
- E. R. Knudsen and U. Rahbek: Radical Hopefulness in Mohsin Hamid’s Map of the World: A Reading of Exit West, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Vol. 57 (2021) No. 4, p. 442–454.
- M. Perfect: Black Holes in the Fabric of the Nation: Refugees in Exit West, Journal for Cultural Research, Vol. 23 (2019) No. 2, p. 187–201.
- M. Farooq, G. Rahman and M. Sohaib: Cosmopolitan and Anti-Cosmopolitan Concerns in Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Pakistan Journal of Social Research, Vol. 4 (2022) No. 1, p. 85–91.
- A. Lagji: Waiting in Motion: Mapping Postcolonial Fiction, New Mobilities and Migration through Exit West, Mobilities, Vol. 14 (2019) No. 2, p. 218–232.
- N. Zahra, A. Ashraf and I. Yousaf: Interrogating Cultural Hybridity in The Last White Man, Journal of Law, Social and Management Sciences, Vol. 3 (2024) No. 1, p. 50–58.
- J. Zhang: Shattered 9/11 Dreams: On Naming Symbolism in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Social Sciences in Hunan (A01): 311–312.
- T. Qu and Y. Wei: Complicity of Process and Judgment: Narrative Aesthetics in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Journal of Jilin Provincial Institute of Education, Vol. 34 (2018) No. 1, p. 126–130.
- Y. Wei: “Objectified People”: A Consumerist Reading of the Spiritual Wasteland in Moth Smoke, Journal of Lanzhou Vocational Technical College, Vol. 35 (2019) No. 1, p. 37–39.
- S. H. Bağlama: Exit West: Co-opting Refugees into Global Capitalism, New Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 9 (2019) No. 2, p. n. pag.
- T. Akers: You Are Here: Mapping the World System of Mohsin Hamid’s Fiction (Ph.D., City University of New York, USA 2019).
- L. Finch: Global Finance and Scale: Literary Form and Economics in How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. In The Routledge Companion to Literature and Economics, 382–391. London: Routledge.
- P. Jay: The Post-postcolonial Condition: Globalization and Historical Allegory in Moth Smoke, ARIEL, Vol. 36 (2005) No. 1–2, p. 89–110.
- B. Moore-Gilbert: From “The Politics of Recognition” to “The Policing of Recognition”: Writing Islam in Hanif Kureishi and Mohsin Hamid. In Culture, Diaspora and Modernity in Muslim Writing, 183–199. London: Routledge.
- A. Poon: Helping the Novel: Neoliberalism, Self-help and the Narrating of the Self in How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Vol. 52 (2017) No. 1, p. 139–150.
- Q. Liaqat and A. Raza: Non-Western Post-human Cyborg Ontologies: The Man-Automobile Relationship in Mohsin Hamid’s Fiction, Literature & Aesthetics, Vol. 31 (2021) No. 1, p. n. pag.
- E. R. Knudsen and U. Rahbek: Radical Hopefulness in Mohsin Hamid’s Map of the World: A Reading of Exit West, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Vol. 57 (2021) No. 4, p. 442–454.
- A. Mahmutović: Global Citizenship in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Transnational Literature, Vol. 8 (2016) No. 2, p. 1–15.