Hybridity and Resistance in Postcolonial Subjectivity: A Comparative Study of Exit West, Home Fire, and Red Birds

Abstract

The research explores the connection between hybridity and resistance within the creation of postcolonial identity by means of the comparative study of three Pakistani novels in English that were written recently: Mohsin Hamid’s ‘Exit West’ (2017), Kamila Shamsie’s ‘Home Fire’ (2017), and Mohammed Hanif’s ‘Red Birds’ (2018). Using the research design of qualitative textual analysis based on close readings and the postcolonial theoretical concepts of Homi K. Bhabha's hybridity and Frantz Fanon’s resistance, this paper seeks to understand how hybridity and resistance are intertwined in the novels examined. Examples show how the hybridity in Exit West is an example of adaptive hybridity, which makes it possible for the characters to engage in existential resistance. At the same time, Home Fire reflects the idea of conflictual hybridity, thus requiring vocal resistance. The hybridity in Red Birds, on the other hand, represents an instance of failed hybridity leading to minimal resistance in terms of survival. This research concludes that it is the interplay between hybridity and resistance that creates postcolonial subjectivity.

Keywords: Hybridity, Resistance, Postcolonial Subjectivity, Pakistani English Literature, Bhabha, Fanon, Comparative Analysis, Exit West, Home Fire, Red Birds