TRACING EAST-WEST BINARIES: A RE-ORIENTALIST READING OF KAMILA SHAMSIE'S BEST OF FRIENDS

Abstract

The study explores how Kamila Shamsie’s novel, Best of Friends illustrates East-West binaries, highlighting the portrayal of identity and culture, as characters traverse through tangled power structures. By investigating character's experiences in Pakistan and the UK, this study examines how Shamsie redefines cultural binaries, and widens the gulf between both extremes by offering an understanding of how traditional dynamics and identities are presented in postcolonial literature. The study will apply the theory of re-orientalism as a theoretical framework, as it revisits the typical stereotypes often portrayed in postcolonial literature through indigenous writers. Through tenants of Re-orientalism, this study analyzes how Shamsie reinterprets East-West binaries in a globalized world. The study will reinforce how Best of Friends challenges East-West binaries by presenting characters with fluidic conventional identities. The novel's narration of conflicted loyalties, power dynamics, sense of belonging and identities between Pakistan and the UK criticizes both the postcolonial impact and the current power dynamics. This study will also explore how Shamsie’s narrative showcases the East-West binaries without prioritizing one over the other.