Projection of Occidental Gaze in Kartography: A Study of the Western Feminist Prism in the Diaspora Narrative

Abstract

The research paper employs Kamila Shamsie’s novel Kartography as a primary text to critique the influence of occidental gaze on the diaspora female writers of Pakistan. It explores how these writers end up projecting the Pakistani women from their personal perspective of affluent, educated status mimicking the western feminist philosophy. The study uses textual analysis and closed reading methods within the post-colonial feminism and narrative theoretical framework. The discourse of the occidental gaze, representation/misrepresentation of the Orient, objectification of women, and Western feminism has been used to question the authenticity of the narratives of these diaspora writers. The purpose of this research is to highlight that the feminist theory is not monolithic and that the diaspora writers lack the authenticity to define regional feminism in Asia. In other words, they cannot shed off the influence of the western feminist philosophy and the occidental gaze because they share the same experiences of living in Western society. Since they have spent most of their lives in the West, they have been conditioned in the occidental discourse and viewpoint about their native land. This project aims to highlight variation in the feminist stance and how Asia and Pakistan specifically need a different treatment to define feminism in order to encapsulate Pakistani unique idiom and experiences and that diaspora women writers have the least credibility to develop one.