Postcolonial Perspectives of Terrorism in John Updike's Terrorist and Yasmina Khadra's the Attack

Abstract

This study examines the postcolonial concepts of centralization and peripherization as depicted in terrorist by john updike and the attack by yasmina khadra. It also seeks to establish aspects of convergence between the centre and periphery as brought out in the two texts. Most studies within postcolonial framework have interrogated the tension immanent in the relationship between the west and the east in the context of cultural, political and racial subjugation of the former against the latter. However, studies which tackle the phenomenon of terrorism fiction within the postcolonial framework are scanty. This study attempted to fill the gap by investigating the occidental and oriental aspects of terrorism in terrorist and the attack. It also sought to determine elements of convergence in the relationship between the east and the west. The objectives of the study were concerned with examining the occidental perspectives in terrorist and the oriental perspectives in the attack. A third objective sought to explore concurrent elements in the occident vs orient dichotomy. The exploration exposed how terrorist portrays elements of domination and hegemony personified in the occident and how the attack depicts instances of protest and resistance typified in the orient. Within the paradigm of postcolonialism, the study adopted orientalism as postulated by edward said to examine how a dominating framework, the colonizer, exercises power and oppression against the protest and resistance of the marginalized, the colonized. The ideas of homi bhabha and gayatri spivak were also used to investigate the nature of resistance performed by the oppressed. A review of literature showed that the dichotomy of the centre vs the periphery is evident in fictionalization of terrorism hence the rationale for this study. The study relied on qualitative research design. Analysis of content involved a reading of the two texts under study which were purposively sampled. Subsequently, the occident and orient relationship is shown to be belied with power imbalances that occasions tension and conflict. An integrative approach that investigated how the tenuous relationship between the west and east can nevertheless find concurrence was also performed. This study shows that aspects of domination and hegemony are predominant in the occident's perception of the east and its consolidation of the centre. Further, discourse constitutes an integral cog of the western domination and imperialism. But the study also demonstrates that, the orient performs a mix of redemptive initiatives geared towards the resistance and contestation of the colonial discourse. Whereas the discordant nature of the occident vs orient relationship is rife with tension and incongruence, the study was still able to identify components of convergence which ultimately amalgamated the west vs east divide in the analysis of terrorist and the attack. The study concludes, the tendency of the west to ascribe unto itself power and authority of domination can be challenged and contested at various levels by the disempowered and marginalized east or the orient. This research is important because it will provide a literary perspective in the broader conversation that involves terrorism. The study will also ignite a broader understanding of the terrorism phenomenon within a postcolonial paradigm.