WORLD LITERATURE WITHOUT NATIVE READERS: BORN-TRANSLATED FORM AND RELATIVE FLUENCY IN MOHSIN HAMID’S THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST

Abstract

This paper evaluates The Reluctant Fundamentalist, written by Mohsin Hamid, through the approach of born-translated literature laid down by Rebecca L. Walkowitz. Rather than emphasizing post-9/11 issues presented in the novel, the study contends that translation is not an addition to the process of novel circulation but a characteristic attribute of its structure, narration, and address to the readers in the opening pages. Using the notion of relative fluency and non-native readership, the article demonstrates how the novel confronts the notion that English is a medium that provides complete linguistic or cultural clarity. By engaging in close textual analysis, the work evidences the ways in which second person narration, the lack of untranslated languages, and narrative uncertainty present the reader as partialized and mediated subjects rather than culturally secure or culturally native readers. The results indicate that The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an example of born-translated fiction in that it predetermines diverse international readers, eschews narrative closure, and considers translation as a continuing state of signification. Through the sustained textual analysis as a result of the application of born-translated theory, this paper is relevant to discussions about both world literature and translation studies and is an attempt to view the development of anglophone novels as influenced by global contexts of translation rather than particular national traditions.