Literature for the Intercultural Classroom : Discussing Ethnocentric Issues Using The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Abstract: Abstract This essay takes as its starting point that the Swedish classroom often is an intercultural environment and that it is therefore important to address issues connected to ethnocentrism in it. In this essay I examine how the novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid can be used in schools to raise such ethnocentric issues. The novel’s didactic potential becomes clear by capturing some of the views held by the book’s protagonist as an alternative to Western ethnocentric concepts. Furthermore, the ambiguity of the novel allows for students to reflect on the identification processes that produce ethnocentrism. The power of nostalgia is also discussed in this essay, and with it nostalgia’s possibly alluring, yet counterproductive qualities. Together, these topics and themes from The Reluctant Fundamentalist combine to illuminate a use of literature within the context of intercultural education. Keywords: Intercultural education, Ethnocentrism, Calvinism, Islam, Capitalism.