Exploring cultural trauma: psychology of muslim migrants, culture and beliefs in post 9/11 America

This paper explores the subject matter of nativism and cultural trauma of Muslim migrants after 9/11 in Western countries in the novel Exit West (2017) by Mohsin Hamid through the lens of cultural trauma theory (Alexander, Jeffrey et al., 2004). The researchers focus on how nativists treat Muslim migrants as 'the other'. This “othering” is based on emotionally loaded beliefs that are based on socio-cultural differences between Western and Muslim cultures. Correspondingly, the response of Muslims to such treatment is a traumatic one—leading to anxiety, depression, nightmares, and existential crises—that is based on similarly-shaped beliefs: highly emotional and culturally based. The consequences of disrupting migrants' cultural or religious identity include becoming more radically religious or giving up their Muslim religious identity. The current study will lend insight into the pain suffered by Muslim minorities in Western countries and contribute positively to refugee literature. It may also assist in reducing an 'us-versus-them' belief system between those of the Global South and those of the Global North.