Navigating Identity Crises, Alienation, and Power Dynamics: A Postcolonial Analysis of Nussaibah Younis’s Fundamentally

Abstract

This study analyzes the intersections of alienation, identity crisis, displacement, and power dynamics in Nussaibah Younis’s novel Fundamentally. The narrative explores how Western academia distances individuals from their cultural roots, leaving the protagonist, Nadia, caught between her British academic training and her Iraqi heritage. Drawing on postcolonial theory, this research applies Homi K. Bhabha’s concepts of hybridity, mimicry, and ambivalence from The Location of Culture to highlight Nadia’s internal struggle between two worlds. Furthermore, Edward Said’s concepts of Orientalism, latent and manifest bias, and "Othering" are utilized to demonstrate how Nadia views ISIS brides as the "Other" while taking pride in her own Westernized approach. Additionally, this research employs Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s concepts of the subaltern and epistemic violence from her influential essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?" to analyze the character of Sara, who represents society's marginalized lower classes. The study argues that Sara embodies the subaltern voice, successfully challenging the self-appointed saviors who seek to domesticate her. By the novel's conclusion, she refuses submission and asserts her own agency. Ultimately, this research concludes that true decolonization occurs only when individuals reclaim their authentic identity and exercise independent agency.