Diasporic Dissonance: Cognitive Dissonance as a Structuring Principle in Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire

Abstract

This research studies Kamila Shamsie’s novel Home Fire (2017) from the point of view of cognitive narratology. It highlights that Kamila Shamsie uses cognitive dissonance events to structure the plot of the novel. More than offering an explanatory textual reading, it offers a research methodology derived from the concepts of cognitive narratology, and especially the literary conceptualization of cognitive dissonance. The research contends that the terms derived from these new areas can replace classic terminologies like conflict, rising action, and denouement, or catastrophe. The methodology adopted is based on the study of textual indicators of cognitive dissonance as they are used to construct the plot. This methodology can be used for future research and serve as a paradigm or rubric for evaluative judgments.