The Artist’s Way: Mohsin Hamid Confesses an Artistic Trauma in his Non-Fiction

Abstract

While critics take a particular interest in discussing Mohsin Hamid as a novelist of globalization, migration, war, politics, economics, and capitalism, I contend that Hamid manifests a strong interest in, even obsession with, art in his fiction and non-fiction, which also makes him a novelist of art. Relying on his own words in his non-fiction, I argue that Hamid expresses a direct, often indirect concern about his artistic life, which includes his artistic experiences, ways, pursuits, and struggles in the globalized world of art. This article aims to ground my obstinate claim that Hamid symbolically exposes his own artistic life in his fiction in reality; it does this by focusing on Hamid’s non-fiction where his personal confessions can be said to be the most pronounced in contrast to his fiction where these are symbolic and, therefore, less definite. It establishes the basis on which my subsequent claim that Hamid speaks about his artistic experiences in his fiction can stand and, by extension, the claim that his fiction, besides being metafictional, can also be considered autobiographical.