Emran Feroz: Hosseini’s views are in accord with the discourse in Kabul, dominated by a pro-Western elite who believe that everything in Afghanistan depends on the Western occupation: the foreign soldiers are needed to continue strengthening the country’s economic and security state, and the aid money is also needed (not for building schools or hospitals, but for protecting their privileges). Thanks to these attitudes, as well as the Western attempt to integrate Afghanistan’s economy into the global financial system, social inequality in the country has grown tremendously during the last several years. While the “progressive” elite in Kabul is living in a bubble, watching soap operas on flatscreen TVs day after day and suffering from obesity, Afghanistan’s vast, rural, and “savage” majority is living under disastrous conditions. […] In addition to playing up racial differences, Hosseini also habitually paints a facile, decontextualized picture of Afghanistan. In The Kite Runner — a tale of a childhood friendship that effectively erases everything outside of Kabul — the Taliban are described as abysmally evil, some devilish force that has to be battled and removed. The history of the Afghan civil war and the role of the Mujahideen warlords — strongly supported by the US and its allies, who became corrupt tyrants and drug bosses after the US–Soviet proxy war and made possible the Taliban’s reactionary rise to power — get no mention. Defenders of Hosseini may argue that his stories are simply fiction, that they’re strictly for entertainment. But Hosseini’s work contains historical events that he then translates for us, and Hosseini constantly suggests that he is describing Afghanistan’s reality. This is where the true danger of his stories comes in. Hosseini’s role (whether sought or appointed) as the spokesman for Afghan society gives readers a false sense of confidence that they’re learning about the “real Afghanistan.” Western readers (including those of Afghan heritage) have come to believe that they understand what Afghanistan is like because they have read his novels. What they do not realize is that Hosseini is not describing an objective reality. Yet because he is one of the few Afghan voices in Western outlets, his perspective gets mistaken for the unvarnished truth. […] The public and media shouldn’t expect a single individual to speak for a complex, diverse society with a wide range of perspectives and life experiences. And while we cannot hold a single author responsible for the suffering of Afghan people, what is objectionable is this: Hosseini has made millions of dollars bolstering neocolonial interests by creating a black-and-white construct of his own country of origin. More here.