Hassan's Stigmatised Identity Management in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner (2003)

Boulkroune, Assam; Sadoune, Farida

فصل الخطاب
Volume 15, Numéro 1, Pages 727-738
2026-03-30

Hassan's Stigmatised Identity Management In Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner (2003)

Authors : Boulkroune Assam . Sadoune Farida .

Abstract

The present research examines the representation of stigma in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner (2003) through the guiding lens of Erving Goffman's stigma theory. It focuses on the character of Hassan as a typical example of a stigmatized individual whose Hazara ethnicity subjects him to systemic discrimination within Pashtun-dominated Afghan society. Drawing on Goffman’s distinction between Virtual Social Identity (VSI) and Actual Social Identity (ASI), the analysis demonstrates that Hassan’s moral integrity, loyalty, and compassion are consistently negated by a socially imposed, demeaning virtual identity that marks him as inferior from birth. The paper further explores the manifestations of tribal stigma and the mechanisms through which stigma is reproduced, legitimized, and internalized, particularly through racial labeling, social exclusion, and institutionalized violence. Besides, it explores Hassan’s strategies of stigma management, particularly covering and acceptance, whereas highlighting the unfeasibility of passing within the Afghan rigid ethnic hierarchy. By combining the literary analysis with the sociological theory, this study shows that stigma operates as an individual experience and as a collective and historical process rooted in power relations. Finally, this paper argues that The Kite Runner exposes the devastating cost of ethnic stigmatization and criticizes a social system that acknowledges Hassan’s virtues but denies his humanity on basis of his origin and ethnicity.