The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a transcultural text by a transcultural author Mohsin

Hamid. The novel is somehow autobiographical as Hamid recounts his personal exposure of

transcuturalism in the text. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is transcultural text in a perspective

that it deals with the diasporic dilemma of immigrants who undergoes the process of cultural

hybridity and eventually becomes the victim of identity crisis. On the other hand,

Translations is a play Brian Friel which explores the colonization of Ireland under the

influence of English Empire. Friel portrays that original identity of Ireland is crushed by the

hegemonic culture of English Empire. Translations depicts the identity crisis of Ireland

particularly through the disintegration of Irish language and the process of translation. Friel

also addresses cross-cultural relationship of love through the transgression of confined

boundaries of language, nation and culture.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist embodies the elements of transculturalism more than

Translations. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is narrated by a transcultural author who exposes

the transcultural elements of cultural hybridity, dual identity and identity crisis. The whole

novel illustrates the predicaments of identity issues very vividly and depicts that how

national, religious or ethnic background alienates an individual from the mainstream society.

Translations unfolds the transcultural element of identity crisis but through the loss of native

Irish language. The Reluctant Fundamentalist represents the all-inclusive elements of

transculturalism but Traanslations presents a narrow perspective of transculturalism.

Comparing The Reluctant Fundamentalism with The Wretched of the Earth it is

obvious that the former one is more transcultural as it highlights more elements of

transculturalism. Fanon’s work just show the fragmented identities of the Algerians and the

destruction of their national identities while in Hamid’s work the protagonist somehow gains

a dual or hybrid identity. Even after the decolonisation process in Fanon’s works, the

identities of Algerians were destroyed and a huge generation of Algerians were to suffer but
in Hamid’s work only one generation had to suffer and strive for an identity and then there

generations were safe from getting an identity in the third world country.

Moniza Alvi, herself is a diasporic writer like Mohsin Hamid but she is too optimistic

about getting the very own identity in the England. It is good to be optimistic but one knows

how much difficult it is for an immigrant to get an identity from the place where he has just

moved in. Alvi’s and Hamid’s work are somehow similar as they both talk about the identity

crisis, identity formation, duality and hybridity. It is difficult to say whose work is more

transcultural as both involves the identity formation and the importance of language in a third

world country. The two of them lead a hybrid life and so does the characters of their works.

According to me, these both works are equally transcultural in nature.