Migration and Transnational Identity in Exit West by Mohsin Hamid: A Postcolonial Approach

Musadderul Hoque, MD Ashickur Rahman, A. S. M. Saiful Islam & Rezwana Fatima Swapna

July-Aug-Sep

Abstract
This paper discusses migration and transnational identity in Exit West by Mohsin Hamid in a postcolonial approach. It is qualitative and interpretive research that was based on literary analysis in the context of the postcolonial theory. The main purpose of the work is to discuss the way migration defines identity and the traditional concept of the nation, belonging, and cultural boundaries within the modern globalized society. The novel Exit West is used as the main source of data, and the secondary data will consist of scholarly articles, books, and critical essays involving migration studies and postcolonial criticism. The data is gathered by close textual reading and thematic selection of the concerning passages that reveal displacement, hybridity, and transnational experiences. They are analyzed through thematic and interpretive analysis of the collected information based on the important postcolonial concepts of hybridity, border crossing, and cultural negotiation. The results indicate that the Exit West film does not simply describe migration as a physical process but as a metamorphosis that reinvents identity against strict national structures. Hamid symbolizes border fluidity, the development of transnational identities through the process of cultural interaction and adaptation through magic doors and changing landscapes. The paper concludes that the novel is a critical reflection of the fixed national identities and seeks to emphasize the fluid and hybrid identity in an ever-more interconnected world.

Keyword: Migration, Transnational Identity, Postcolonial Theory, Cultural Hybridity, Exit West

Research Area: English Literature

Country: Bangladesh

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