EXPLORING MIGRATION, BORDERLESSNESS, AND TRANSNATIONAL IDENTITY IN MOHSIN HAMID’S EXIT WEST: A POSTCOLONIAL MIGRATION STUDIES APPROACH

Abstract

This study examines migration, borderlessness, and transnational identity in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West through a postcolonial migration studies perspective. It investigates how magical doors challenge geographical boundaries, how Saeed and Nadia negotiate cultural identities, and why social exclusion persists despite increased mobility. The study employs qualitative textual analysis, using close reading and thematic interpretation to examine displacement, national identity, cultural hybridity, and belonging. Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of cultural hybridity and Stuart Hall’s understanding of cultural identity as an ongoing process provide the principal theoretical framework. Recent scholarship on refugee trans-nationality and postcolonial mobility supplements the analysis. The findings indicate that the novel questions the assumption that national borders determine stable identities. Although magical doors facilitate movement between geographical spaces, they do not eliminate xenophobia, nationalism, or cultural exclusion. Saeed’s attachment to family, religion, and memory contrasts with Nadia’s willingness to negotiate new relationships and social identities. Their experiences demonstrate that migration involves psychological and cultural transformation as well as physical displacement. The study concludes that Exit West represents belonging as a changing process shaped by memory, relationships, and intercultural encounters. It contributes to postcolonial literary criticism by demonstrating how contemporary migration fiction challenges restrictive national identities and encourages a more inclusive understanding of displaced populations.