Poetics of Migration Trauma in Mohsin Hamid's "Exit West"

Authors

  • Qurratulaen Liaqat Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.22.1.8

Keywords:

Trauma, Migration, Door, Poetics, Drone, Exit West, Mohsin Hamid

Abstract

Migration has emerged as one of the most pertinent issues in the contemporary milieu. Currently, more than ever, people from many countries are being forced to migrate because of religious, social, cultural, national, racial and economic issues. This increasing trend of shifting from one place to another is causing an epistemological shift in the current milieu of human history. Exit West (2017) by Hamid is one of those novels that develops a discursive discourse of the ongoing migrant crisis, and highlights the ugly realities related to the phenomenon of relocation. It chronicles the story of two lovers, Nadia and Saeed, who migrate from their conflict-ridden country to save their lives. This paper configures the poetics of migration trauma in the contemporary literature by analyzing the symbols, metaphors and narrative technique used in Hamid's text with the aim of tracing a discursive aesthetic trajectory of the migration trauma discourse.

Author Biography

Qurratulaen Liaqat, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore

Qurratulaen Liaqat has degrees in English Language and Literature. She is Assistant Professor at the Department of English, Forman Christian College, Pakistan. Her research interest are Pakistani Anglophone Fiction, American Drama, Postcolonial Literature, Post 9/11 Literature, and Posthuman Literature.

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Published

2022-06-30

How to Cite

Liaqat, Q. (2022). Poetics of Migration Trauma in Mohsin Hamid’s "Exit West". English Studies at NBU, 8(1), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.22.1.8

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