Third World Women or the Struggles of a Feminist Identity in Development: Female Characters in Khaled Hosseini’s Novel A Thousand Splendid Suns

Abstract

This paper examines the main female characters in Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. While many argue that Mariam and Laila represent the typical ‘Third World Woman’ described by Chandra Talpade Mohanty, my argument is that a feminist identity development analysis reveals their struggles of an awakening feminist awareness and critical consciousness. By using the feminist identity development model designed by Nancy E. Downing and Kristin L. Roush as a tool of analysis, this paper aims to deconstruct the limits of the ‘Third World Woman’ discourse within Western feminism and acknowledge the diversity of female characters in this novel.