Genealogy of Fanaticism: A Focauldian Study of My Son The Fanatic By Hanif Kureishi

Abstract

This research strives to investigate the Genealogy of fanaticism in the screen play of Hanif Kureishi My Son the Fanatic by keeping in view French Philosopher Michel Focault’s reading of this play. The research is an attempt to uncover the genealogical aspects involving to lead an individual to fanaticism. Genealogy, according to Foucault, does not inquire into the timeless conditions which endures in the subject throughout history, but rather examines the constitution of the subject across history which has led us up to the modern concept of the self. The theoretical framework of this research is Michel Foucault’s Genealogy of fanaticism which will be used as lens for the analysis of migrants with diaspora identities. This Foucauldian concept of genealogy will probe how the fanaticism of father leads to fanaticism of son through uncovering the different aspects of genealogy. The present reasons and causes will be at focus which generates restlessness in a Muslim family while living in a diaspora community. This is an attempt to have a glimpse of the lives of those people who migrate from Asian countries to the West in order to get a lavish life style. In order to have a prosperous life they lost their own selves and belong to nowhere. This research will highlight that the present should be controlled so that this present can be transformed to a solved, certain and peaceful future.