Islamic Identity and Islamic Cultural Hegemony: A Critical Insight into Kamila Shamsie <em>Home Fire</em>

Abstract

The study of this paper is related to Islamic studies and main concerns on Islamic identity and Islamic cultural hegemony in the Western country relevant to contemporary Pakistani Diaspora English writing. The paper attempts to throw some light on the aspects of Islamic issues and religious orthodoxy in Kamila Shamsie’s novel Home Fire. Kamila Shamsie is one of the greatest diasporic writers in Pakistani literature. Due to the hereditary writer, Kamila Shamsie has writing skills in her blood, so her novels represent stylistic aspects of South Asian novels. She highlights several issues like cultural identity, nationality, cultural conflict and other socio-political issues through immigrated Pakistani characters such as Isma, Parvaiz, Emmon, etc. By focussing on two British Muslim families in contemporary England, Home Fire has reimaged the verse of Sophocles’ Antigone, when she transported from ancient Greece to today’s London using the British-Pakistani characters to highlight several issues like immigration, racism, Muslim identity and discrimination. Through the concept of Antonio Gramsci’s Cultural Hegemony and the concept of Identity, this paper finds out the aspects of Islamic cultural hegemony and Islamic identity in Home Fire.