Semiotic Analysis of Mohsin Hamid’s Novel

Abstract

This study aims to analyze Mohsin Hamid’s novel “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” by using semiotics theory of five codes which Roland Barthes has proposed for textual analysis. The study is conducted keeping in view the following objects and aims. To interpret the hidden meanings and voice behind the textual signifiers is the main aim of this research. The concealed meanings and voices are also interpreted keeping in view the five codes of Barthes’ Theory. This is mixed method study in which qualitative, descriptive method is used for textual analysis and quantitative method is used to make the frequency list of cultural codes. This study is based on textual analysis of the novel, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid”, and this study is conducted by using step by step method used by Roland Barthes in his book S/Z. Roland Barthes’ narrative model is used as theoretical frame work. By applying Barthes’ narrative model, the results of the current study show that the selected novel is tangled with all the five codes such as the hermeneutic codes, the proairetic codes, the semantic codes, the symbolic codes and the cultural codes which have enigmatic, suspensive elements, hidden meaning and voiced which needed to be interpreted for better understanding. The selected novel is full of enigmatic, suspensive elements, connotative meanings, binary opposition and cultural references. Almost twenty eight cultural codes are found in the text. In short, the novel has all the five codes.