Orientalism in Khaled Hosseini’s and the Mountains Echoed

Abstract

This research discusses Orientalism discourse in And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. The Orientalism discourse in this novel is done by a westernized-eastern subject who moves to France during troublesome in Afghanistan. Further, this thesis is required to break down the construction of orientalism which appears in the novel. To discuss the problem, I use the theory Orientalism by Edward Said‘s point of view. This thesis is qualitative research since the data in the form of utterances or words. The data are divided into two types- primary and secondary data. The primary data are taken from And The Mountains Echoed. The secondary data are taken from books, journals, articles, and website from internet which show the condition of Afghan culture. As the result of the discussion, it can be inferred that orientalism is constructed in the novel. By looking at the data have been proceeded, the analysis has proven by stereotyping and hegemony to deliver the orientalism discourse toward the eastern subject. Hosseini created some characters who mention the negative side of Afghan culture and also Nila as supporting character who holds strong role that she tends to France culture. The construction of orientalism in the novel is very close to Hosseini‘s empirical background as the author. The influence of Afghanistan war is very clear seen on the story line. By the novel, the critical idea of Hosseini reminds the readers that certain Muslim regime is considered as the bad and cruel. The author also reminds that the East needs to be helped, even by the West as powerful subject.