The Construction Of Ideal Cities: A Study Of The Reluctant Fundamentalist From The Perspective Of Lefebvre's Theory Of Social Space

Mohsin Hamid?s The Reluctant Fundamentalist writes about the Pakistani youth Changez and his experience in different cities before and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.These cities are always changing.However,Changez?s pursuit of a better life and ideal cities endures.Before 9/11,based on their development advantages,American cities formed an American-dominated capitalist space to serve the American hegemony and America?s national interests.In that space,if non-American cities wanted to develop themselves,they had to open for the American capital and guidance.These cities were forced open by the American capital and hegemony.Local people in these cities did not welcome the American presence there and attempted to resist the American power,resorting even to violence and terrorist attacks.After 9/11,the American capitalist space is undermined.Cities in the novel,especially the American cities,begin to close their doors to the outer world.The immigrants suffer more hostilities and alienation in post-9/11 American society.However,the closing of cities does not make American society safer.The threats of terrorism haunt the American people.The changing cities make Changez think about the problems the United States faces.He holds that an open,fair and just society can help eliminate the threats of terrorism.Finally,Changez returns to Pakistan and dedicates himself to the construction of a just society and ideal city.Based on Henri Lefebvre?s theory of social space,this thesis analyzes why the cities in the novel present different statuses before and after 9/11,exploring the driving forces behind the urban changes and the road to the ideal city and just society.In the context of globalization,the United States has invaded the foreign market through its export of capital and produced a self-centered capital space which features the American domination and hegemony and provokes dissatisfaction and protests among people in the Third World.The American hegemony intensifies people?s resistance and revolt against the American power,laying the breeding bed for terrorism.After the 9/11 terrorist attacks,the American government highlights the conflict and confrontation between good and evil,launches the global War on Terror and fights terrorists everywhere.Meanwhile,American society shows rising Xenophobia and hostility toward immigrants.However,the American counter-terrorism efforts do not eliminate the security threats the United States faces.In his novel,Mohsin Hamid meditates on the social issues in the American cities and holds that communication can dissolve the schism among people and the construction of an open,fair and just ideal city can eliminate the threat of terrorism.The thesis consists of six parts.Chapter I will brief the author Mohsin Hamid and the main content of the novel,review the domestic and foreign studies on The Reluctant Fundamentalist and elaborate on the significance and framework of the essay.Chapter II will focus on the theoretical foundation of the essay,introducing the major concepts in space theory,especially Henri Lefebvre?s theory of social space and his status in the field.Chapter III will review the United States? production of capital space,analyzing the “spatial practices”,“representations of space” and “representational space” in the opening cities in the novel.Chapter IV will explore the closing process of the cities in the novel,focusing on the representation and the impact of the process.Chapter V will discuss the ideal city in Changez?s eye,analyzing his pursuit of the ideal cities and the role of the intellectual in the process.Chapter VI will summarize the main ideas of the essay,highlighting Changez?s thinking on the American impact on the urban and spatial changes in the novel and his pursuit of the ideal new cities.Hamid?s novel advocates an open social space of mobility,freedom and equality which can help eliminate the threat of terrorism.