Exploring the Portrayal of Diasporic World in the “Exit West” by Mohsin Hamid: A Discourse-based Study

Abstract

This study is an attempt to explore that discourse is a practice of social patterns and is not freely produced and that how culture embedded in a discourse produces power relations. The study is based on a theoretical framework of Cultural Approach to CDA (CCDA) (Nuri, 2012), a new aspect of CDA. The researchers analyse the text of novel Exit West(2017) focusing on three variables: Gender, Racial Discrimination, and External and Internal patterns of the human mind. CCDA(2012) focusesdiscourse as a byproduct of social practices and these practices are shaped by the surrounding culture. In the analysis, our main focus is on analysis of language of the society, the meanings of the language used, and in what sense they are used by the users. The researchers concentrate on figurative language and other linguistic devices used by the writer in the selected text. By keeping in view the research questions, the data comprises on 12 passages from the novel Exit West. These twelve passages are analyzed at three levels: description of the text, socio-cultural interpretation and analysis of the linguistic choices. By focusing on theresearch variables, the researcher has find out the cultural codes that are working behind the text. The research is very significant as this study will open up the way for CCDA application on other similar literary works. It is also significant as this novel is not yet explored from the perspective of CCDA.