Abstract
American novels focusing on 9/11 generally demonize and portray Islam as a warmongering religion and its believers as violent people. Previous research has validated this perspective. The objective of this research is to examine Updike’s mindset and attitude towards Islam and Muslims from postcolonial reading lens in his novel Terrorist which foregrounds Islam, Muslims, and Islamic doctrines, making use of 9/11 as the impetus that charts the chain of events. The conceptual framework focuses on a postcolonial concept drawn from David Spurr’s rhetorical feature of “debasement”. The methodology centers on the colonial nuances which permeate the novel through a study on characters in the novel. Referring to the wrong interpretations of Islam, as shown by the references used by Updike, has produced a wrong picture of Islamic doctrines and consequently results in demonizing Islam and Muslims. The conclusions demonstrate Terrorist as Islamophobic and bear the tinges of colonial writings which mainly results in debasement of Islam and Muslims and also divulges how Updike’s hegemonic ideology about Islam has shaped a kind of discursive construction in his novel.
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Yousofi, M., Sistani, R.R. & Farivar, M. Deconstructing Updike’s Neo-colonialist Narrative. Hu Arenas (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-022-00317-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-022-00317-3