Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Generic frameworks and active readership in The...
View graph of relations

Generic frameworks and active readership in The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published

Standard

Generic frameworks and active readership in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. / Ilott, Sarah.
In: Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Vol. 50, No. 5, 2014, p. 571-583.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Ilott, S 2014, 'Generic frameworks and active readership in The Reluctant Fundamentalist', Journal of Postcolonial Writing, vol. 50, no. 5, pp. 571-583. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2013.852129

APA

Vancouver

Ilott S. Generic frameworks and active readership in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Journal of Postcolonial Writing. 2014;50(5):571-583. Epub 2013 Nov 19. doi: 10.1080/17449855.2013.852129

Author

Ilott, Sarah. / Generic frameworks and active readership in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. In: Journal of Postcolonial Writing. 2014 ; Vol. 50, No. 5. pp. 571-583.

Bibtex

@article{2878f78d2c304bed8ac64bce0c3e60a4,
title = "Generic frameworks and active readership in The Reluctant Fundamentalist",
abstract = "This article considers the role of the reader-as-judge in Mohsin Hamid{\textquoteright}s The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It builds upon and extends the idea of the cathartic function of authorship as a response to trauma by alternatively considering the activation and empowerment of the reader that is enabled by the dramatic monologue style of Hamid{\textquoteright}s novella. Indications that the reader is called upon to make active decisions can be found in the second-person address that is directed beyond the pages. The layering of different genres also means that readers have to choose what they believe to be the most suitable generic framework for understanding the novella. Marking a new intervention into the study of this novella, the article argues that The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an example of a contemporary dramatic monologue that encourages a more active way of reading by calling for readers{\textquoteright} discernment and judgement, while resisting comfortable closure. The article considers how and why the novella functions as a dramatic monologue, before moving on to those matters that the reader is being called upon to judge, and the wider implications of this readerly positioning in relation to the politics of mourning.",
keywords = "genre, dramatic monologue, 9/11, national allegory, reader, The Reluctant Fundamentalist",
author = "Sarah Ilott",
note = "This is published under my soon-to-be-married name, Sarah Ilott.",
year = "2014",
doi = "10.1080/17449855.2013.852129",
language = "English",
volume = "50",
pages = "571--583",
journal = "Journal of Postcolonial Writing",
issn = "1744-9863",
publisher = "Routledge",
number = "5",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Generic frameworks and active readership in The Reluctant Fundamentalist

AU - Ilott, Sarah

N1 - This is published under my soon-to-be-married name, Sarah Ilott.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - This article considers the role of the reader-as-judge in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It builds upon and extends the idea of the cathartic function of authorship as a response to trauma by alternatively considering the activation and empowerment of the reader that is enabled by the dramatic monologue style of Hamid’s novella. Indications that the reader is called upon to make active decisions can be found in the second-person address that is directed beyond the pages. The layering of different genres also means that readers have to choose what they believe to be the most suitable generic framework for understanding the novella. Marking a new intervention into the study of this novella, the article argues that The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an example of a contemporary dramatic monologue that encourages a more active way of reading by calling for readers’ discernment and judgement, while resisting comfortable closure. The article considers how and why the novella functions as a dramatic monologue, before moving on to those matters that the reader is being called upon to judge, and the wider implications of this readerly positioning in relation to the politics of mourning.

AB - This article considers the role of the reader-as-judge in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It builds upon and extends the idea of the cathartic function of authorship as a response to trauma by alternatively considering the activation and empowerment of the reader that is enabled by the dramatic monologue style of Hamid’s novella. Indications that the reader is called upon to make active decisions can be found in the second-person address that is directed beyond the pages. The layering of different genres also means that readers have to choose what they believe to be the most suitable generic framework for understanding the novella. Marking a new intervention into the study of this novella, the article argues that The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an example of a contemporary dramatic monologue that encourages a more active way of reading by calling for readers’ discernment and judgement, while resisting comfortable closure. The article considers how and why the novella functions as a dramatic monologue, before moving on to those matters that the reader is being called upon to judge, and the wider implications of this readerly positioning in relation to the politics of mourning.

KW - genre

KW - dramatic monologue

KW - 9/11

KW - national allegory

KW - reader

KW - The Reluctant Fundamentalist

U2 - 10.1080/17449855.2013.852129

DO - 10.1080/17449855.2013.852129

M3 - Journal article

VL - 50

SP - 571

EP - 583

JO - Journal of Postcolonial Writing

JF - Journal of Postcolonial Writing

SN - 1744-9863

IS - 5

ER -