A Critical Reading of Hamid’s The Last White Man in the Light of Postmodernism

Abstract

This research study endeavors to critically analyze Mohsin Hamid’s The Last White Man (2022) in the light of Lyotard’s theory of postmodern metanarratives and micronarratives. It explores various postmodern perspectives, which have been highlighted in the novel, including globalization, pluralism or multiculturalism, fragmentation, paranoia, technology and science. However this study focuses particularly on the postmodern subversion of conventional racial notions. Lyotard’s theory of metanarratives was proposed and published in his The Postmodern Condition (1979). Metanarratives also resist an absolute closure or final definition of existing concepts. While mininarratives or petit narratives challenge the modern conventional notions of logic, knowledge, reason, logic, truth, science, truth, objectivity and universality. This study has used textual analysis as a research method in order to evaluate the selected text. Textual analysis examines text in terms of use of words, dialogues, sentences, and conversations. The present study ends with findings and recommendations for future research.