Is There Any Way Out? A Phenomenological Hermeneutic Reading of Escapism in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West and The Last White Man

Abstract

Via a qualitative methodological approach, this article uses hermeneutic phenomenology to study how the two narratives Exit West and The Last White Man reflect and reinforce the way an alienated nonwhite literary man can escape his suffering and humiliation in a white Western society. It interprets what forces this colored man to imagine inanities as the only way to escape. It explores how these fictional texts help the reader understand many key issues like escapism, racism, migration and alienation throughout narrative hermeneutics. It elaborates on how the British Pakistani novelist Mohsin Hamid"s ordinary routine and personal interest and concern affect his understanding and interpretation of society and how these understanding and tieretereretni are also related to the reader"s daily experiences and responses. In addition, this study shows how the rhetorical triangle as well as the hermeneutic circle are necessary to interpret and understand the meaning of the text.