FROM POSTCOLONIAL TO GLOBAL FICTION:TWO EXAMPLES OF A GEOPOLITICAL NOVEL
ABSTRACT (en)
In its introductory overview, the article discusses the genre shift from the postcolonial national allegory to global fiction, the turn-of-the-century demand for a political narrative having contributed to the “worlding” of Anglo-American literature. Contextually interpreting two examples of an emerging form of the geopolitical novel — The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Transmission by Mohsin Hamid and Hari Kunzru, respectively — the paper reflects on their intertwining of the real and fictional worlds threatened by the side effects of globalization and evolving communication technologies. Having drawn on the US and British cultural and political heritage, both South Asian diasporic writers represent a cosmopolitan branch of anglophone prose that fictionalizes millennial trends and the socio-political aftermath of terrorist attacks of Islamists and computer hackers. Combining the characteristics of expatriates with the fluid identity of contemporary nomads, the young adult protagonists embody the non-obvious status of immigrants who have succumbed to the illusion of Americanization without proactive assimilation, undergoing cultural hybridization instead. The authors rethink the unhomely experience of expats whose failed efforts have caused resentment towards the host society and initiated radical reaction. They extend their novels’ frame of reference to overcome the stereotypes of migration writing and post-9/11 national trauma fiction, facilitating the transition from postcolonial to transnational literature.
KEYWORDS (en)
National allegory — global novel — geopolitical novel — Mohsin Hamid — Hari Kunzru — transcultural hybridization and transmission
KLÍČOVÁ SLOVA (cs)
Národní alegorie — globální román — geopolitický román — Mohsin Hamid — Hari Kunzru — transkulturní hybridizace a přenos
DOI
https://doi.org/10.14712/23366729.2023.1.7
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