CONSTRUCTION OF HYBRID IDENTITY: A CRITICAL STUDY OF HANIF KUREISHI'S THE BUDHA OF SUBURBIA

Abstract

This research article analyses the authorial perspective and self-reflection in Hanif Kureishi's first novel, The Buddha of Suburbia. The dominant discourses of ethnicity, race, class, and gender are examined in terms of their effects on the categories of subjectivity and identity. The analysis focuses on the novel's protagonist, Karim Amir, tracing his life journey and showing how his self-perception is shaped by forces beyond his control but is malleable thanks to his extraordinary skill of mimicry. Karim mimics white English mainstream society consciously as a way to find his place in society and unconsciously as a political gesture against the forces of colonialism, neocolonialism, and capitalism. Drawing on the work of theorists like Homi K. Bhabha, Stuart, Fanon and others, we see that Karim and his relatives are complex hybrids who question the assumptions underlying Cartesian concepts of identity and subjectivity. Keywords: subjectivity, identity, hybridity, mimicry, colonialism, neocolonialism, capitalism