Understanding Cultural Trauma Writing in Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Abstract

Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist has attracted wide public attention for its interrogation of the event of 9 /11. The paper analyzes the writing strategies in The Reluctant Fundamentalist from the perspective of the cultural trauma theory and reveals that Hamid transgresses the experience of the 9 /11 attack itself by representing the individual psychological trauma in the post-9 /11 context and constructing it as cultural trauma. It argues that Hamid shows a deep sense of social responsibility and historical mission by way of exploring the root causes of 9 /11 and the War on Terrorism both economically and culturally. Through this analysis, the paper tries to show how The Reluctant Fundamentalist acts out cultural traumatic experiences and calls for both intercultural communication and mutual understanding.