Hybridity, Acculturation, and Cultural Fragmentation in Isabella Hammad’s the Parisian: A Postcolonial Reading through Said’s Orientalism

Abstract

Postcolonialism is a critical and cultural theory that investigates how Western and non-Western nations interacted during colonization, emphasizing the process of 'othering' that sustains Western dominance and justifies imperialism. This study adopts a qualitative postcolonial literary approach, drawing on Edward Said's Orientalism to analyze Isabella Hammad's The Parisian as a contemporary reflection of these dynamics. Through close contextual reading, the study highlights contradictory images of 'self' and 'other' in characters and narrative voice. It explores how European colonialism influences the cultural identities of Palestinian intellectuals, especially the tensions between the colonizer's culture and the marginalized colonized’s. The analysis employs thematic coding of self/other binaries and discourses of civility, race, religion, and domination to systematically interpret the text, situating The Parisian in Mandate Palestine while considering both imperial and Palestinian perspectives. By foregrounding intersecting postcolonial perspectives, the study shows how Hammad represents the role of colonialism in shaping cultural identity, underscores her connection to her cultural heritage and history, and exposes the cultural, economic, social, and political domination imposed by Western colonization.