A Re-Orientalist Gaze: Stereotyping Cultural Identity in The Namesake and Exit West

Abstract

This study investigates the stereotyping complexities of cultural identity conflicts within the choosen literary texts – The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and Exit West  by Moshin Hamid – which portrays the image of East in negative terms. Re-orientalism is explored through the lens of Lisa Lau and Ana Cristina Mendes. It focuses on Eastern cultures which challenges the stereotypical image of the Orient created by the West. It highlights the ongoing tension between identity and the East’s own cultural reality. Re-orientalism posits that even diasporic Eastern authors might unintentionally implemented stereotypical views of the East as backward and contrast it with the rational and developed West. This study examines that Lahiri and Hamid’s portrayal of the East rely on oversimplified cultural distinctions, exaggerate differences, and ultimately position the East as ‘Other’ to the West. It is antithesis of Said’s ‘Orientalist’perspective that West created a monolithic idea of the Orient and lumping with diverse cultures into a single entity in opposition to the West. These perspectives help to unearth the identity and cultural issues of the East. It unearths the re-orientalist perspective through the characters struggle – with their heritage and traverses migration – and disclosed the dynamics of representation and identity construction. This study concludes to a more comprehensive perception of contemporary Eastern literature and scrutinized the complexities of cultural and identity problems within a globalized world.