THE HYBRID SELF IN THE CONFLICT BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY IN LALEH KHADIVIS THE AGE OF ORPHANS

This study presents Laleh Khadivis The Age of Orphans based on the theories of Edward Said and Homi Bhabha. It answers the questions: can this novel be read through the lens of Bhabhas theory of hybridity, and, if so, what does such a reading reveal about culture and identity in The Age of Orphans? The hybrid self is an experience where in the postcolonial self holds the shades of two identities and cultures, namely the colonizer and the colonized. The protagonist Reza lives in a space that represents the shadows of both traditional and modern cultures. Rezas inner tension comes from mixed cultural identity that is represented in his conflicting conceptions, feelings, thoughts, and behaviours towards the Kurds and his wife, Meena. This paper validates that Reza has a hybrid identity. The modern Kurdish postcolonial self is a mixed one whereby it cannot return to a purely traditional cultural perception.