From Lahore to New York: In Search of “Third Space” in the Reluctant Fundamentalist

September 11 attacks provided the American neo-Imperialism with the opportunity to disseminate the discourse of Islamophobia under the aegis of war against terrorism. The event influenced the world of literature, and many writers were prompted to find a response to the “Othering” of Muslims and Middle-Easterners in western narratives. One of these authors is the Pakistani Mohsen Hamid who, in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, brings us face to face with the economic aspects of cultural and international injustice, and brings to light the deficiencies of the globalization discourse. This article studies the constitution of Changiz’s subjectivity as an alien and “other” in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a novel which impels the reader to think deeply about the lies hidden behind the universal and totalitarian categories such as “west/east” and “we/they.” Mohsen Hamid shows that the cultural map of the world needs a new design because national cultures are founded on the limitation of the alien, although they have their roots in people’s actions and behaviors, and do not possess an ontological and intrinsic value. This article explores the interconnectedness of identity and third space by studying Changiz’s character.