THE UNRESOLVED ETHNIC CONFLICT IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S THE KITE RUNNER

Authors : Karam Nayebpour, Naghmeh Varghaiyan

Pages : 293-309

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Publication Date : 2020-06-26

Article Type : Research

Abstract :The tragic state of an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan is the primary subject in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner. The Hazaras’ violent and humiliating suppression takes place in the two narrative levels in Hosseini’s novel—in the story level or within the fictional society and in the level of narration or discourse. In other words, repression of the Hazara people is shown in the two narrative aspects of what and how. Thus, The Kite Runner is first of all the linguistic description of the humiliating and uncompromising dominant sociocultural perspective towards the Hazaras. Representing the Hazara people as one of the victims of ethnic cleansing in the modern history of Afghanistan, Hosseini’s narrative all in all fails to recognize a desired ethnic identity and dignity for the minority group. As we argue in this paper, the novel deliberately attempts to represent a reconciling atonement for the Hazaras’ humiliating repression within the Afghan society. This purpose, however, changes into an unfulfilled desire by the end of narrative as the recognition of the Hazara people’s ethnic identity increasingly becomes a secondary narrative concern.
Keywords : Ethnic Conflict, the Hazaras, Afghanistan, Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner