Content Details | NUML Online Research Repository

Content Details

Back to Department Listing

Title Neo-Orientalist Dimensions in Harold Bergsma’s Fiction

Author(s) Fakhar Alam

Abstract This research presents a postcolonial critique of Harold Bergsma’s fictional work by exploring the existent neo-orientalist perspectives in the selected narratives. His novels about the Pakistani culture have been approached to identify the stereotypical and prejudiced misrepresentations of the Muslim social patterns present in the country. For this purpose, his trilogy— that includes One Way to Pakistan (2007), An Oath of Vengeance (2008), and The Opium Eaters (2009)—has been taken to be analyzed to develop the critique and generate the argument. The study explains the concept how the Neo-Orientalist representation distorts and over-generalizes the Muslims societies and Islamic teachings. Specifically, it proposes and proves that being a Neo-Orientalist and Islamophobe, how Bergsma pretends to have the insight knowledge of Muslims and Islam to demonize them. The qualitative methodological design has been used to prosecute the research, that is, the selected texts have been analyzed according to the close textual analysis technique. The theoretical framework for the analysis of the text has been taken from the Orientalism (1995) by Edward Said. Especially, his ideas about the nature of neo-orientalist developments have been focused. The selected novels have been found to be replete with the Neo-Orientalist and Islamophobic misrepresentations of Pakistani society and Islam. A variety of the textual strategies present in the narratives has been brought forth to establish the biased nature of narration. The research is going to be a significant one for the students that will help them to understand the current socio-political precipitations and the ideological agenda behind the literary works.

Type Thesis/Dissertation MS

Faculty Languages

Department English

Language English

Publication Date 2019-01-04

Subject

Publisher

Contributor(s)

Format

Identifier

Source

Relation

Coverage

Rights