Presenter: Nicole Dib
Authors: Gloria Cuthbertson
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Nicole Dib
Institution: Southern Utah University
Traditional travel narratives prioritize the time between a character’s departure and destination. The very act of travel, whether by automobile, foot, or plane, is often the focus of study for literary scholars of this particular genre. Mohsin Hamid’s 2017 novel Exit West diverges in a curious way from this norm; Hamid’s acclaimed novel about emigration and refugees features characters who bounce around the world via magical doors, which are themselves hardly discussed in the larger narrative. I propose that through his use of otherworldly doors as the method of travel, Hamid highlights how the danger refugees face does not end when their travel concludes. By minimizing their journey to simply walking through a doorway, he prevents readers from hyper-focusing on refugee travel and directs their attention to the struggles that exist beyond the physical trials of migrating. My argument will make use of the theoretical lens of ethnic studies, which reveals power structures in place that influence the lives of marginalized subjects and precarious travelers. By considering the power dynamics at play in Exit West, it is apparent that the non-traditional aspect of Hamid’s travel narrative influences how the novel’s refugee protagonists are perceived. In conversation with contemporary immigration scholar Lisa Lowe’s articulation of the “abstract citizen”—one subject to disenfranchisement in different legal and geographic spaces—Hamid’s work both deconstructs the formal expectations for refugee narratives, and offers a new paradigm (via his magical door) to show that life-changing experiences for refugees exist beyond their physical journey.