Postcolonial Whiteness and the Othering of Self: Race, Xenophobia, and Identity Disruption in Mohsin Hamid’s The Last White Man (2022)

Abstract

This paper examines Mohsin Hamid’s The Last White Man (2022) through the lens of postcolonial theory, focusing on Frantz Fanon's insights into race, identity, and decolonization. It investigates how whiteness is deconstructed, how xenophobia manifests in the wake of identity disruption, and how the self becomes the "Other" when racial hierarchies collapse. Drawing from Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks (1952) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961), the paper argues that Hamid's novel serves as a powerful allegory for the fragility of racial constructs and the psychological trauma caused by the dissolution of racial privilege. By incorporating additional insights from Homi K. Bhabha, Achille Mbembe, Sara Ahmed, and others, the paper provides a nuanced understanding of identity, surveillance, and emotional politics in racially fluid societies.