A Multiculturalist Reading of Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West and Nadeem Aslam’s The Golden Legend

Abstract

This paper explores Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) and Exit West (2017), alongside Nadeem Aslam’s The Golden Legend (2017), through the lens of multiculturalist theory. These novels, written in the aftermath of global crises such as 9/11, the War on Terror, and the refugee crisis, interrogate the tensions between cultural pluralism, identity, and belonging in both Western and South Asian contexts. The methodology is grounded in close textual reading, informed by theoretical frameworks from Bhikhu Parekh, Charles Taylor, and Homi Bhabha, the study examines how Hamid and Aslam depict the fragility of multicultural coexistence, the politics of recognition, and the hybrid identities that emerge in transnational spaces. The analysis highlights Hamid’s allegorical and transnational approach to migration and identity, contrasted with Aslam’s realist portrayal of religious persecution and communal violence in Pakistan. Ultimately, the paper argues that these texts critique the limitations of Western liberal multiculturalism while simultaneously reimagining multiculturalism as a fragile but necessary mode of coexistence in a globalized world. By situating these novels within broader debates in postcolonial and multiculturalist literary criticism, the study contributes to ongoing discussions about cultural diversity, migration, and the politics of belonging in contemporary literature.