Public PhD Viva-Voce Examination of Mr. Yahya Dohshoush, from the Department of English, Faculty of Languages

The Public Viva-Voce Examination for the PhD Dissertation hereto entitled, Challenging Entrenched Binaries and Boundaries and Constructing Identity in the Selected Novels of Hari Kunzru, submitted by Mr. Yahya Ali Mohammed Dohshoush, Department of English, Faculty of Languages, was held on Wednesday, 27/08/1446 Hijri corresponding to 26/02/2025. The Viva-Voce Committee, which was formed based on a resolution issued by the Post-Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Council, consisted of the following:

The study aimed to explore the impact of globalization on building the identity that Kunzru aspires to build. In addition to analyzing the impact of the diaspora, universality, hybridization, capitalism, multiculturalism, and the crossing of cultures on the identity of his fictional characters. The study also discussed the revolutionary discourse of Hari Kunzru, who sought to dismantle the repressive regimes, capitalist policies, dualities and well-established borders. Moreover, the study raises issues associated with race and identity, such as the contrasts between black and white or Indian and English. It also reviewed the importance of colonial powers and legacies that are evident in some of his selected novels, which deal with the topics of mixed identity and ethnic conflicts.

The study concluded with a number of findings, including that though Kunzru deals with the entrenched binaries, boundaries and the challenges his characters face, he does not succeed to create a healthy environment where his characters thrive and bloom. He presents the identities of his figures as conflicting, movable and pliable because his figures were forced to change their identities during their multiple journeys. His persistent strive to construct a single world in thoughts, identities, perspectives, attitudes, dealings, and behaviors has been represented in his literary unique works but it does not terminate in a victory. He excels in interrogating autocracy, inequality, biasness, Orientalism and Occidentalism that still exist in today’s world and impede the characters’ arduous journey towards constructing a sturdy identity. 

The researcher made several recommendations, including:

• Encourages other scholars to explore the additional thought-provoking concepts found in Hari Kunzru’s selected novels such as the role of technological advancements in dismantling colonial, oppressive, dictatorial, and capitalist systems.
• Encourages other scholars to investigate the role of capitalist system in building artificial identity and identify other aspects, dangers, and dilemmas of capitalism including the social incidents, demonstrations and movements that cover the exploitation, tyranny, violence, and oppression of global capitalism.
• Induces other scholars to investigate the theoretical innovation in Hari Kunzru’s novels and shows how Kunzru reflects it in his literary texts.
• Encourages other scholars to scrutinize the challenges and impediments the oppressed, and marginalized people encounter in Kunzru’s narratives because of the dictatorial, communist, and capitalist systems in the era of globalization.

The PhD dissertation has been examined and is recommended by the Viva-Voce Committee for acceptance and approval. The Candidate was recommended to be awarded the degree of PhD majoring in English Literature.

The viva was attended by academics, researchers, students, and other interested individuals, including the researcher’s colleagues and family members.