Re-Orientalism And The Art Of Subversion: Unreliable Narration In Pakistani Anglophone Fiction

Abstract

This article investigates Pakistani Anglophone writers' use of unreliable narration to develop Re-Orientalist strategies which challenge colonial images while reclaiming cultural power and analyzing postcolonial control systems. Drawing on Lisa Lau and Om Prakash Dwivedi’s framework of Re-Orientalism, a decolonial praxis that reappropriates Orientalist tropes to assert authorship. The study in this regard analyzes four novels that include: The Diary of a Social Butterfly (2008) by Moni Mohsin, Thinner Than Skin (2012) by Uzma Aslam Khan, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (2013) by Mohsin Hamid, and Revolt (2013) by Qaisra Shahraz. This article conducts close analysis of narrative devices that unite Urdu-English code-mixing with satirical irony and fragmented structures and biased authorial perspectives to challenge Western understandings of cultural authenticity. These authorial techniques both reveal postcolonial identity's moral contradictions and force analysis of readers' role in sustaining eastern versus western cultural divides. Through these techniques the writers not only highlight the ethical uncertainties found in postcolonial identities but also encourage readers to reflect upon their roles in sustaining cultural dichotomies. Mohsin in this regard employs mocking linguistic errors to mock colonial presence while Hamid exposes neo-liberal abuse by creating a blurry distinction between his narrator and his audience. Through their rejection of ethnographic norms these texts construct Pakistan as a nation with multiple voices instead of presenting it as a static outside world. The analysis integrates narratological analysis with reoriented Eastern studies to demonstrate how unreliable storytelling serves as a method of decolonization beyond basic stylistic forms for breaking nationalist and Orientalist power structures.