Emotional and Cultural Resonances: A Nostalgic Analysis of Khaled Hosseini’s Selected Novels

Abstract

This paper explores the nostalgia experienced by major characters in Khaled Hosseini’s selected 
novels, The Kite Runner and the Mountains Echoed. The study employs a qualitative-interpretive 
research methodology while applying textual analysis as a research method for data analysis, 
including Homi K. Bhabha’s theory of hybridity as the lens. The protagonists of the novels leave 
their homeland (Afghanistan) to pursue a better life in the host countries away from the turmoil of 
their native land, but they find the new lands antagonistic to their expectations, and as a result, 
they are confronted with various problems, including nostalgia, a pervasive theme that prompts 
the diasporic struggles of the immigrants and keeps challenging and problematizing their identity 
and lifestyle in the new world. This research seeks to unearth the nuanced layers of nostalgia in 
Hosseini’s storytelling, shedding light on the emotional and cultural resonances that have made 
his novels enduring classics.