Displacement and Migration in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

One of the main worldwide challenges in the twenty-first century is migration and displacement, which are defining the identities of people and social boundaries. The literary reflection of these phenomena by Mohsin Hamid in his Exit West (2017) is presented using both realistic and fantasy narrative as the writer depicts both the emotional and ideological aspects of the migration process. This study investigates how Hamid develops the discourse of migration and displacement using language and narrative, and also find the discursive strategies pointing to the underlying power relations and ideological stance. In this study, one of the thematic analyses was used to examine important textual quotes of Exit West to examine the qualitative approach using the Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2013). The interconnecting themes of identity, belonging, globalization, and resistance are examined to determine the ideological connotations of Hamid in his use of language. The discussion shows that Hamid uses figurative wordplay, transnational scenes, and sympathetic stories to disrupt the hegemonic discourses of refugees and world inequality. The research concludes that the Exit West is a counter-discursive work of literature in that it espouses empathy, inclusion, as well as reconstructions of the concept of home and identity.