Fluid Self in Kamila Shamsie's Burnt Shadows

Abstract

Fluid self and hybrid identity are considered to be the chief preoccupation of most postcolonial Pakistani writers. The present study scrutinizes fluid self and hybrid identity in Kamila Shamsie's Burnt Shadows (2009). In her Novel, Shamsie depicts the postcolonial identity struggle of a Pakistani Immigrant woman who moves on to several places. Hence, the study attempts to highlight these immigrants strife for identity and self-making. It analyses Shamsie's work in the light of Bhabha’s postcolonial theory of hybridity and third space. Thus, chapter one presents a theoretical framework and a socio-historical context of the work. The second chapter examines the theme of fluid self and hybrid identity in Shamsie's novel Burnt Shadows. To conclude, Postcolonialism has a deep influence on Burnt Shadows since the novel contains multiple postcolonial themes such as ; identity, Fluid self, third space, immigration, and hybridity.