ORIENTALIST INTERNAL BORDERS IN MOHSIN HAMID’s EXIT WEST: A STUDY INTO REFUGEE FICTION

Abstract

This thesis provides an in-depth criticism on how Orientalism tarnishes and shapes migration and refuge through racist and biased approaches. The researcher takes Mohsin Hamid‘s Exit West as a case study to substantiate and prove the argument that man-made (external) and mental (internal) borders are by-products of the West to push away the Middle East, North Africa, and Asian countries, all built on an Orientalist mindset that shapes how the Syrian refugee crisis is looked at and dealt with. The researcher also seeks to prove his argument that the world cannot survive in silos in that once a crisis breaks out somewhere, other countries will be relatively impacted by the ripple effect. Edward Said‘s theory of Orientalism and Homi Bhabha‘s theory of Hybridity of Identity are used as a theoretical bedrock of the thesis. The researcher focuses on magical doors used by the writer to prove that mobility across the world countries is possible, which demythologizes and debunks the mendacity drummed up for by the West for centuries and centuries. To provide a better understanding, the researcher has zoomed in on the treacherous journeys of refugees before, while and after they trudge through the many traitorous borders. The findings reveal that the West – fuelled by Islamophobia, racism and hate against Middle Eastern, African, and Asian people – adopts a double-standard policy, deeply informed by an Orientalist mindset, with the world refugees: refugees of blue eyes and blond hair are welcome, while dark or brown skinned people are pushed away, and the recent Ukrainian refugee crisis is a case in point. The findings also reveal that refugees suffer disintegration, exclusion, othering, ethnic and racial discrimination, apartheid, and ill practices in the host countries because of their Oriental identities. This finding also shows that most if not all refugees are victimized into hybridity of identity and ambivalence that bring about their loss of belonging. Yet, this loss sometimes has positive sides in the sense that those v refugees, who manage to survive, become agents of change and act as a bridge between the Orient and the Occident, and Nadia can be a case in point. Exit West thus provides a critique of how the Syrian refugee crisis is looked at from an Orientalist mindset that divides the world still into binaries of white and black, good, and bad, and one and other. Drawing on the Syrian refugee crisis as a case study, the findings also reveal that thousands of asylum seekers and internally displaced persons – women and children in particular – have been trapped for years at the European borders and many were pushed away by armed soldiers. In contrast, several Europeans rushed into the borders to welcome Ukrainians just hours after the Russian forces invaded Ukraine. The findings also reveal that although refugees have survived the treacherous journeys, they are segregated in poor areas and are disintegrated into society. The way in which Saeed and Nadia are treated, along with other similar refugees, in the novel shows that the legacy of Orientalism is still shaping the views and perceptions of Western governments when responding to the influx of poor refugees coming from the East or the Orient. The researcher strongly believes that the host countries need to revisit their refugee polices to mitigate the destructive impacts of Orientalism on refugees. This helps to defuse the tensions of the refugee crises as they are more dehumanized and politicized. As such, the researcher concludes that the EU countries and USA have moral and legal obligations to the Syrian diaspora of refugees governed by (1) the Kantian understanding of cosmopolitan hospitality, (2) the 1951 Refugee Convention, and (3) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The researcher calls on the humanitarian organizations to take stronger actions to mitigate the agonies suffered by refugee and migrant communities. The researcher also encourages the host countries to be more welcoming to such people coming from war-torn countries in that the world is more like a little village that has more in common than not. A viable suggestion is that hybrid identities for refugees can be part of the solution to better live in the West. Refugees should show more adaptability to the social fabrics of the host countries. Again, the origin countries of refugees should introduce reforms to improve safety and security measures, which help to discourage citizens from becoming refugees. Again, the countries of origin of refugees should introduce several reforms to discourage potential refugees from leaving their home countries. vi When measures of improving security and livelihoods come into play, many refugees feel attracted to return home. This is not to blame Western countries for conflicts in the refugees‘ counties, but we should not forget that the governments in those refugees‘ countries are regimes that came after the colonial stage; Syria is a case in point where France, which colonized Syria for about 30 years, paved the way for the Assad regime that controlled Syria for decades. Hamid seems to communicate a message of inclusion and humanity in his novel; he would like to criticise how still the West looks at the refugee crises from the perspective of an Orientalist legacy that is worn-out and decaying. Using magical doors, he proves that mobility across the borders is easy, and actually magical doors enable him to show and describe the internal borders that are unseen and more difficult to cross. The doors, thus, have a thematic and aesthetic function in the novel. The book therefore communicates a message that current migration crises cannot be dealt with unless this Orientalist perspective is destroyed to allow for the human side of the crises emerge, so they are properly addresses and responded to.