Interplay between Territory and Dispersal in Khaled Hosseini’s Works

Hosseini is an Afghan-born American writer who writes in the backdrop of socio-political turmoil of Afghanistan since Russian invasion against his native land. Hosseini’s works advocate dispersal to the Western world as the only panacea for the ills of racial and class discrimination, ethnic divide, socio-economic injustice, misogyny and religious division in Afghanistan. Keeping in view the interplay between territory and dispersal and the longing for assimilation in migrants, I have selected A. J. Cascardi’s concept of ‘The will to self-revision’ and ‘autonomous existence’ as theoretical standpoint that requires the individual to revoke his social and filial bonds to carve out his pleasures. I have also taken assistance from Georg Lukacs’ theory of ‘transcendental homelessness’. The analysis establishes that the young migrants are readily inclined towards assimilation in the host culture by trading off their familial bonds to carve out their economic and cultural growth.


INTRODUCTION
The interplay between the territory and dispersal (deterritorialisation of culture) under cultural modernity has become a vital debate in contemporary literature particularly diasporic writings. Diaspora writers present migrant characters engaged in cultural synchronisation in the wake of longing for the native land and assimilation with the metropolitan cultural value system. This interplay between the native culture and the host culture has been received variously in diaspora writings. Negotiating cultural assimilation in her works, Elif Shafak says "Home isn't where it used to be. Home is anywhere you hang your head" (The Saint of Incipient Insanities 295). Commenting on the bond between identity and land, Shafak states, "The native land remained immaculate, a Shangri-La, a potential shelter to return to, if not actually in life, at least in dreams" (Honor 73). To add to it, diaspora writers i.e Hanif Kureishi, Mohsin Hamid, Aamer Hussein, Monica Ali and others have also written insightful accounts on migrants' issues of ambivalence and assimilation. However, a group of writers in diaspora tradition has taken a clear position in favour of the host country while negotiating cultural synchronisation. These writers are, in words of Kwame Anthony Appiah, "comprador intelligentsia" (348) who glorify Western culture and its value system and do not take into account the familial and geographical bonds which shape individual's psyche and world vision. Appiah  comprador writers in their works trade off Euro-American cultural products to the non-Western world.
Deterritorialisation of culture under cultural globalization points to the process of weakening of bonds between the territory and its inhabitants, the people and their landscape, its flora and fauna in the wake of migration and exile. It also stands for a profound transformation of local culture due to the rapidly increasing transnational cultural interaction and mediatisation. For Anthony Giddens, cultural deterritorialisation is at once a"disturbing and rewarding" (140) experience. So it should not be interpreted as a deterritorialisation of lived cultural experiences in the native territory. Giddens affirms that it is actually the transformation of the localized experiences into a global set of value system transcending spatial and temporal limitations which has never occurred in previous ages in human history. This deterritorialisation of culture is furthered and accentuated by the concept of homelessness theorized in the works of thinkers like Georg Lukacs, Marriana Torgovnick, A. J. Cascardi and others who advocate migration and homelessness on the basis of transcendental nature of human soul. "Soul goes out to seek adventure, it lives through adventure" (Lukacs 30). Torgovnick argues that 'going away' is in reality 'going home'. Similarly, Cascardi's 'the will to self-revision' and autonomous existence requires the modern man "to cut the self loose from all social and familial ties" (618). However, there are voicesthat endorse neither absolute homelessness nor absolute belongingness. Edward W. Said claims that the exile "exists in the median state" (114) who can neither adjust fully into the new cultural setting nor can completely disengage from the native culture. For Bruce Robbins, "Absolute homelessness is indeed a myth" (173). He goes on to say that "everyone belongs somewhere, that there is no alternative to belonging" (173). While elaborating cosmopolitanism, Robbins argues that "Cosmopolitanism would seem to mimic capital in seizing for itself the privilege (to paraphrase Wall Street) of 'knowing no boundaries'" (171). Responding to the tension between territory and dispersal, Avtor Brah says "'Home' is a mythic place of desire in the diasporic imagination (188)". For Brah, migrants cannot virtually return to the native territory even if they physically visit it because home for her is actually the place where you live and experience life whether it is native territory or the metropolitan culture. Furthermore, there are those who claim that all individuals are not wanderers by nature or instinct, they are often forced by the circumstances to search for better fortunes. Samir Dayal states that "not all migrants are exilic or nomadic; some are refugees, some merely follow the money" (49-50). To add to it, Homi K. Bhabha's concept of ambivalence offers a plausible account of the interplay between territory and dispersal in migrants regarding their issues of post-migration adjustments. For Bhabha, ambivalence is a kind of displacement in which the boundaries between the home and the world are blurred and confused, "forcing upon us a vision that is as divided as it is disorienting" (8). Substantiating Bhabha's concept of ambivalence, Ashcroft says that it is a complex mix "of attraction and repulsion" (10). Hence, ambivalence is a complex situation in the migrant characters particularly the elder generation in their struggle for assimilation with the host land.
Situated in the concept of transcendental homelessness and assimilation, Hosseini's works advocate mobility of characters from their native land to the Global North in search of socio-economic stability. The responses of the migrants in the host society in Hosseini's works are largely shaped and conditioned by their age and class. The author seems more focused on the practical side of migration and exile ignoring the emotional side of the characters particularly their familial and geographical affiliation. In his stories, deterritorialisation is more of a transformation of culture from a local to a transnational entity rather than displacement or delocation. He is widely considered a pro-West assimilationist in his vision of cultural synchronization. Hosseini's narrative is also received as the narrative of a mediator between the West and the East who is hesitant to prefer one culture to the other. Rachel Blumenthal states "…two canons of literature working … to construct a narrative that cannot so easily locate an ideological homeland in either Islamic Afghanistan or secular America" (258). Blumenthal is of the view that Hosseini is hesitant and ambivalent in preferring one culture to the other. This view of Blumenthal runs counter to Appiah's concept of comprador intelligentsia.
The current study is based on the researcher's assumption that the writer seems to have taken a position in negotiating synchronisation between the two cultures. He prefers assimilation over reterritorialisation as a solution to the migrants' socio-cultural and psychological dilemma. To analyse this assumption, I have applied textual analysis method based on purposive sampling technique which suits my selection of excerpts from the text under study keeping in view my theoretical assumptions. To consolidate Hosseini's vision of cultural synchronisation through his works The Kite Runner (TKR), A Thousand Splendid Suns (ATSS)and And the Mountains Echoed (ATME), I have identified major strains of the narratives in which the writer has clearly defined socio-economic and humanitarian reasons for relinquishing the territory to migrate to Euro-American lands, challenging the relevance of familial and geographical bonds between the inhabitants and the territory.
The textual study informs that Hosseini paints Afghan society as a sexist and misogynist culture in which women are extremely marginalized, maltreated and looked down upon. They are portrayed as commodities having no independent position. In TKR, Sanaubar -a woman from Hazara clan -is depicted as "a beautiful but notoriously unscrupulous woman who lived up to her dishonorable reputation" (8). She is coquettish, irresponsible and unmotherly. She taunted her husband that he was no better than a donkey. Furthermore, she casts lascivious eyes on men, and she is used to walk in a fashion to make feminine parts of her body more inviting and sexually intriguing sending a message to men for her readiness to develop sexual relationships. She refuses to own her newborn son Hassan when she comes to know about the cleft lip of the baby. She leaves with a band of singers when her baby is just five years old. The motive behind her Bohemian attitude seems to be the lack of recognition by the sexist society which commodifies women. They are taken for things i.e Sanaubar is married to a handicapped without her consent.
In ATSS -a tale of two suffering women -Mariam and Nana, the writer narrates how men use women as objects to satisfy their lust and discard them as worthless commodities. Nana is a housekeeper of Jalil -a rich businessman of Herat -who lives with his wives and children. Jalil impregnates Nana and packs her off to a shack outside Herat because hedoes not have the courage to take a stand in favour of Nana and her child. To save the public image of the family, Jalil "had made her gather her few things from the servants' quarters, where she had been living, and sent her off" (7). Similarly, Mariam, the illegitimate daughter of Jalil and Nana,has to suffer for the sins she did not commit. Being an illegitimate child, Mariamcannot lay claim on familial and filial bonds, social acceptance and love. Sheis a social outcaste and a slur whois bound to live in anonymity and disgrace. This reflects the misogynist and socially hypocritical nature of Afghan culture.
In ATME, Saboor -a peasant -gives away his daughter (Pari) to the Wahdatis -an issueless well-off family of the territory. Pari's father negates familial bond in return for money. Hedoes not even take into account the deep affinity between Pari and her brother Abdullah who displays fatherly affection for his sister after the death of their mother. "It was a mystery. I have never seen such affinity between two beings. In truth, Abdullah was as much father to Pari as sibling" (93).
The author depicts his native land as a racist society bitterly divided on racial, ethnic and sectarian grounds. Afghan society mainly consists of the Pashtuns and the Hazaras. The Pashtuns are the elite class and are Sunnis by sect, whereas the Hazaras are the lower class who are Shia Muslims. Men and women of the Hazara origin are a perpetually serving community. They are the victims of socio-economic injustice and sectarian hatred perpetrated on them by the Pashtuns. The textbook histories conceal facts about the past persecution and the miseries of the Hazaras at the hands of the Pashtuns. Amir, the narrator in TKR, reveals the details of ethnic-cum-sectarian violence against the Hazaras by the Pashtuns in the nineteenth century which he came to know from a book in his father's library. "In it, I read that my people, the Pashtuns had persecuted and oppressed the Hazaras. It said the Hazaras had tried to rise against the Pashtuns in the nineteenth century, but the Pashtuns had 'quelled them with unspeakable violence'" (9). The narrator further informs that the Pashtuns not only killed the Hazaras but also banished them from their homes, set ablaze their properties and captured their women. Amir further reveals that one of the motives behind this ethnic hatred was the issue of sectarian division as the Pashtuns belonged to the Sunni sect of the Muslims whereas the Hazara community was predominatingly Shia.
This establishes that the country has a long history of racist hatred, ethnic and sectarian divide which has been suppressed in official histories dominated by the Pashtun elites. "Afghanistan is peopled by many groups with differing cultural traits, including language, religious practices, physical appearance and attire, and customs. Intermarriage between ethnic groups and religious groups is relatively uncommon." (Goodson 127). Teachers are also infected with ethnic and sectarian divide. When Amir in TKR shares the historical details of ethnic hatred between the Pashtuns and the Hazaras with his teacher, the teacher does not mince words in endorsing the cruelties against the Hazaras on sectarian grounds. For Amir's teacher, to be a Shiais a kind of malaise beyond cure.
The author informs that the image-problem of Afghanistan is another potent reason for migration and exile. In the eyes of the world, Afghan people are reckless, trifling and fickle. Amir, the narrator of TKR, considers honour and pride of his countrymen a sham. Toofan Agha,honoured throughout the land, used to sleep with his servants' wives,and one of them gave birth to an illegitimate son. In post-migration scenario, Amir perceives his native people as reckless who have destroyed their culture and their motherland. "My chest tightened with a surge of unexpected anger at the way my countrymen were destroying their own land" (321). Afghans cherish customs but not the rules. Their culture is conspicuous for being influenced by the trifles. Kite-flying in Afghanistan is more of a battle than a sport. The Afghans compare the competition among kite-runners during the kite-fighting tournaments with British and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The real fun in the kite-fighting tournament in reality started with the cutting of a kite which was chased by the kite-runners. "The chase got pretty fierce; hordes of kite runners swarmed the streets, shoved past each other like those people from Spain I'd read about once, the ones who ran from the bulls" (52). The most eventful moment of the kite-fighting tournament was the last cut out kite. The kite-runner who got hold of the last fallen kite was the hero. "It was a trophy of honour something to be displayed on a mantle for guests to admire" (52). Lack of social civilities is another reason offor the problematic image of Afghan people. They are perceived as barbaric by the people outside their territory. Loud talk on public places is an unwelcome behaviour in cultured societies. The protagonist of TKR feels discomfiture over this incivility of Afghan passengers during his travelling in a bus in his country. "Everyone in the van was talking, talking loudly and at the same time, nearly shrieking, which is how Afghans talk" (72).
Another major strain of the works under study is the transitoriness of the familial bonds which fizzle out with temporal and spatial variations. Traditionally, sister-brother relationship is widely acknowledged as an unremitting bond transcending the limitations of space and time, but in case of Pari, the sister of Abdullah in ATME, this bond is gradually weakened and becomes virtually extinct. Pari, the daughter of a poor farmer, who was taken away by the Wahdatis in return for money gradually becomes forgetful of her past memories, even her profound affinity with her brother who had showered her with motherly affection after the death of her mother in her early childhood. For Pari, the bond of geography also becomes obsolete. "She, with each passing day, [gets]more forgetful of her past life in Shadbagh and of the people in it" (103). The society also relinquishes its ownership of its members who shift away from his territory. "No one in the village [Shadbagh] asked after Pari" (47). Pari, who is subsequently taken to Paris, assimilates herself into the metropolitan culture with no pangs for the past. In this way, Pari does not corroborate Shafaq's view of native land as a 'Shangri-La' and seems to endorse Cascardi's concept of 'autonomous existence'. Similarly, in TKR, the dismissive behaviour of Farid, the taxi driver towards Amir, who returns to Kabul in search of Sohrab in post migration era, is another solid evidence of the indifference of society (territory) towards migrants. "Farid gave me another dismissive look, this one with the hint of barely suppressed animosity" (228).
Afghan society is a superstitious and backward society. Afghan human world is governed more by the supernatural beings. ATSS commences with the description of Mariam's mother's Chinese tea set. The dragon's image on the sugar bowl "meant to ward off evil" (1). Human anger is believed to be the work of the 'Jinn' who enters a person's body causing rage and mad looks. Mariam drops the sugar bowl of her mother's chinese set, and it breaks into pieces. Her mother gets so furious that the daughter is afraid that "the Jinn would enter her mother's body again" (4). Afghan people's backwardness is also reflected through their marvels at seeing a sophisticated vehicle or warmachine among them.
The picture of the religious clerics (Mullah) that the writer paints is also not a flattering one. Religious clerics who are the only source and the channel of learning religionare primitive, and their teaching methodology is outmoded which generates fear and dislike in the learners. It does not inspire them. Amir -the protagonist of TKR -narrates that the teaching method of Mullah Fatiullah Khanis barbaric. He teaches Arabic language and he neither uses translation method nor does he help the students conceptualise the signified through instances from lived experiences. He only relies on punishment. "Though he never translated the words for us, he did stress, sometimes with the help of a stripped willow branch, that we had to pronounce the Arabic words correctly so God would hear us better" (16). Religious clerics are ridiculed and despised for their backwardness and ignorance of the real knowledge of the religion. Hence, their religious teachings fall on deaf ears of the people of Afghanistan. When Amir tells his father about the teachings of Mullah Fatiullah in class, he ridicules the cleric for his ignorance and uselessness. "They do nothing but thumb their prayer beads and recite a book written in a tongue they don't even understand. He took a sip, 'God help us all if Afghanistan ever falls into their hands'" (17). This reflects the lack of trust between dogma and intelligence.
The textual analysis of the major strains of Hosseini's narratives informs that Afghan society (native territory) is a place devoid of opportunities for the inhabitants to grow culturally and economically. Afghan society is divided on the basis of race, tribe, gender, sect, class and ethnicity. Tribe and ethnicity are the major power centres which do not permit social and national cohesion.
In contrast to the dehumanizing social milieu of the native geography, the writer depicts Euro-American society as a humanistic world which offers lively opportunities to the migrants to feel at home, to grow and prosper. The writer presents America as a vast expanse far greater and far advanced as compared to the native territory of the writer.
Hosseini depicts American culture as egalitarian where people and relations are valued, not measured in terms of blood, lineage and heredity, whereas in the native land of the writer, even the matrimonial bonds are decided on the basis of blood and family background. Amir and Soraya in TKR in post-migration scenario are thinking about the prospect of adoption of a child to keep their married life happy and engaged. General Taheri argues that adoption does not suit Afghans because the Afghans are more concerned about the blood rather than the happiness of the married couple who can satisfy their parental love by adopting a child. Reacting to Amir and Soraya's suggestion of adoption of a child, General Taheri argues about the significance of blood and lineage in establishing matrimonial bonds and adoptions. He says that the decision of marriage between Amir and Soraya was made on the basis of awareness of genealogy of both the families. "I know, who his (Amir's) grandfather was in Kabul and his great grandfather before him. I could sit here and trace generations of his ancestors for you if you asked" (187). General Taheri goes on to argue that perception of Americans is altogether different from that of the Afghans in creating family ties. In America, people marry for a happy conjugal life. The lineage and the heredity of the married couple are never discussed. Marriage is a voluntary bond between the two individuals with no interference from the external world.
In contrast to the rigidity of Afghan culture, American society is a vibrant, inclusive and tolerant world where one is valued on the basis of one's contribution society. American culture is a forgiving culture in which one's past mistakes are ignored. Amir in TKR compares America with a river which symbolizes unhindered flow of life. A river washes away its dross onto its shores. America is a multidimensional inspiration for the protagonist. For Amir's restless soul, Kabul, long before Russian invasion, was a city of ghosts, "a city of harelipped ghosts" (136). America is a place where onecan find oneself. One can atone oneself of one's past misdeeds. "America was different. America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past" (136). In America, Amir is able to disengage himself from his past legacy. America is forgiving with no concern for his past. He easily forgets his bitter memories. He is no longer living in America with a sense of past guilt and past sins. This forgiving and inclusive nature of America is the source of Amir's inspiration and love for the host society.
The protagonist of TKR is mesmerized by the immensity of the host land. America is a vast territory consisting of unlimited free ways, cities, hills and mountains. Even after two years of stay and travelling in America, the protagonist is at a loss to comprehend the vastness of the country. "almost two years had past since we had arrived in the US, and I was still marveling at the size of this country, its vastness (136). Amir sometimes travels by his car to watch and enjoy the beauty of the new land, its weather, sunrise and fog. He is fascinated by the sight of the ocean which he could only watch in cinema in his native country. He recalls how he felt dismayed and melancholic in his native land on not watching the ocean about which he had read in the books and watched in the movies. Amir yearned to see the ocean in Afghanistan. "I had always wondered if it was true what I'd read, that sea air smelled like salt" (136). On seeing the ocean the first time in America, Amir cannot believe it to be a real experience. As he sees the ocean right in front of him, he almostcries because the vastness and the colour of the sea resembles that of the sea which he had watched in cinema movies in Kabul.
America is exceedingly advanced in technology, economy and living standards. In TKR, the protagonist's native territory recedes far behind, and it is no match to the modernized and promising life style of America. Amir watches and counts tail lights of the cars and vehicles in long queues in America which he never saw in Kabul where seeing a new brand American car was rare. In Kabul, Russian and Iranian manufactured low-priced second-hand vehicles were on the roads. "BMWs, Saabs, Porsches. Cars I'd never seen in Kabul, where most people drove Russian Volgas, old Opels, or Iranian Paikans" (136). Economic disparity between the two societies can be gauged by the fact that the elites in Kabul can equalise those in America who belong to the lower stratum of the society in US. Former Afghan generals, bureaucrats and the elite did work in flea markets along with the ordinary workers in America. Amir and his father used to greet migrants in flea markets in the host society. "Greeting people he knew from Kabul: mechanics and tailors selling handme-down wool coats and scraped bicycle helmets, alongside former ambassadors, out-of-work surgeons, and university professors" (138).
In ATME, the writer acts as a mediator between the people of Afghanistan and the Americans to motivate migration and assimilation in post-migration scenario. He projects America as a land of civilization and a safe haven for the diaspora. The writer creates two parallel works in the first story 'Fall 1952' narrated by Saboor -the poor farmer of Shadbagh and the father of Pari and Abdullah. Maidan Sabz in 'Fall 1952' stands for the native land of the writer where there is penury, draught, misery and wretchedness whereas the far away valley of the Div stands for the host culture(America) which is misperceived as a land of evil by the inhabitants of the native country. Subsequently, the valley of the Div turns out to be a valley of untold wealth, luxury, comforts and peace. Baba Ayub, a poor honest farmer of Maidan Sabz who travels to the distant valley of the Div to take his son Qais back, is marveled at the sight of the luxurious living of the children taken away by the Div during his apparently accursed visits of the native land. Depicting the dismal picture of Maidan Sabz, the writer says "but Maidan Sabz was a desolate place, and it didn't resemble in the slightest the image that its name, Field of Green, would have you picture. It sat in a flat, dusty plain ringed by a chain of craggy mountains" (2). But in total contrast to the desolate picture of Maidan Sabz, the valley of the Div is a place of unmixed joys. What mesmerizes Baba Ayub most is the sight of the garden and the happiness of the children including Qais who were taken away by the Div from Maidan Sabz and its adjoining areas. "But what truly brought Baba Ayub to his knees was the sight of children running and playing happily in the garden" (10). The children run freely on the walkways and among the trees. They are living in the Div's palace unmindful of their past hardships. The children playing in the garden of the palace of the Div represent young migrants assimilating into the American culture forgetting their past miseries.
Seen in the backdrop of various perspectives on the concepts of home and dispersal, territory and deterritorialisation of culture, we see that in Hosseini's works, there are two major types of characters. There are those who quit their territory in the time of crisis and there are those who stay at home. Those who migrate are the transcendentalists, materialists as well as social misfits. Those who stay at home are not only those who sacrifice due to their sense of belonging but also those having monetary motives. Amir, the protagonist of TKR belongs to the category of the transcendentalists who migrate to achieve comfort and spiritual calm. Amir is completely disillusioned with the turbulent environment of his native territory and is in search of a place where he could find himself. He migrates to San Francisco where he travels to interact with the world of nature and to reflect upon inner turmoil. Gradually, he feels at home with the environment of San Francisco. "San Francisco, the city I now call home" (2). Migration to the new land gives him an opportunity to revisit his attitude towards life resulting in inner peace. Amir is like every lost wanderer, who in the words of Lukacs "finds the home that has awaited him since all eternity" (59). He is also Torgovnick's wanderer who moves away from his native territory to finally at a land which he calls home. Amir also resembles Cascardi's modern man who rejects social and familial bonds to live autonomously, freely and harmoniously. Besides transcendentalists, there are wealthy social misfits who easily trade off their culture in times of turmoil to maintain this affluence, comforts and liberal life style. In TKR, Toofan Agha with his love of drinking and unconventional views about religion does not feel any pangs in migrating to America. "If there's a God out there, then I would hope he has more important things to attend to than my drinking scotch or eating pork" (18)(19). He is better placed in Western society where there is no interference in one's personal life.
There is another type of migrants who are loyal only with their materialistic gains. They migrate for better prospects and are ready to return to their native territory if it promises more fortune. To this category belong Timur and Idris from ATME. They are rooted neither in the native geography nor in the host society. They migrate to America for riches and return to Afghanistan to reclaim ancestral property. They are "wealthy wide-eyed exiles -come home to gawk at the carnage now that the boogeymen have left" (135). They are as Dayal argues, not exilic by nature but are led by material pursuits. There are certain characters who continue to roam in search of peace against sordid situation in native culture but find solace only through death. The character of Nila in ATME is a case in point.
The characters who do not migrate are pre-dominatingly the illiterate ones who are conservative and religious-minded and cannot perceive of cultural and economic richness by abandoning their comfort zone. They are unreceptive and cannot struggle for a better future. Hasan and the other Hazaras (TKR) belong to this type. "That Hassan would grow up illiterate like Ali and most Hazaras had been decided the moment he had been born" (28). Loyalty with native geography seems rooted in illiteracy and lack of initiative.
Migrants' cultural synchronisation is mainly influenced by their age and disposition. Old generation of migrants is mainly torn between two cultures and remains ambivalent. General Tahiri, Toofan Agha, Timur and Idris belong to this type. They migrated to America to avoid hardships at home and returned home as soon as the situation improved. However, returning home for them was also influenced by the existence of ancestral property and their status which could easily be reclaimed with the return of normalcy in native territory. However, Toofan Agha is an exception. He migrates to America to finally return to Afghanistan but is fascinated by the American culture and life style. "'There are only three real men in this world, Amir' he'd say. He'd count them on his fingers: America the brash savior, Britain and Israel. 'The rest of them … they are like gossiping old women'" (125). Toofan Agha is finally assimilated into American culture and does not return.
Younger generation represented by Amir is readilyassimilated into the metropolitan culture without facing any ambivalence because the host culture offers solace against personal childhood tragedies; it offers economic growth and liberal life style. Pari in ATME also belongs to this type. She easily loses affiliation with the native territory which has given her nothing but scars. The writer's negotiation for cultural synchronization is, in reality, assimilation with the host society because in the works understudy Euro-American world stands for peace, prosperity, initiative and self-actualisation in contrast to the turmoil, poverty, passivity and discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion and gender in the native world. Negotiating cultural synchronisation, the writer's tilt towards Euro-American culture is clearly discernible.