HOME IS WHERE WE LOST: A PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDY OF ALIENATION IN KAMILA SHAMSIE'S HOME FIRE

The significance of examining alienation in contemporary diasporic fiction has grown increasingly important, as global displacement, cultural fragmentation, and identity crises continue to shape human experiences. Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire offers a compelling exploration of these psychological tensions; however, despite its acclaim, a research gap remains regarding how alienation operates through deep psychoanalytic structures rather than solely sociopolitical contexts. While previous studies have emphasized terrorism, citizenship, and cultural identity, few have explored the internal psychic conflicts, unconscious desires, and fractured emotional landscapes shaping the characters’ sense of “home”. This study, therefore, examines how alienation is constructed, negotiated, and intensified through psychoanalytic processes in Home Fire. Specifically, it analyzes characters’ emotional dislocation using Freudian and Lacanian concepts such as repression, desire, identity formation, and symbolic authority. To achieve this, a qualitative, interpretive methodology is employed, utilizing textual analysis to uncover both explicit and implicit narrative meanings. The analysis, furthermore, reveals that alienation in the novel is rooted not only in external sociopolitical pressures but also in unconscious conflicts and unresolved trauma. Furthermore, the loss of “home”—symbolically, emotionally, and psychologically—triggers profound identity ruptures, forcing characters like Isma, Aneeka, and Parvaiz into cycles of longing, rejection, and emotional fragmentation. Consequently, the novel portrays alienation as a psychological struggle for belonging rather than mere cultural displacement. This study, ultimately, highlights how Home Fire critiques the interplay of trauma, desire, and political systems while contributing to psychoanalytic literary scholarship. It underscores the importance of interdisciplinary research integrating trauma theory, migration studies, and political psychology.