PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED: APPRAISING CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS, SOLIDARITY AND HUMANIZATION IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

Abstract

The present study analyzes Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) with particular emphasis on the concepts of critical consciousness, solidarity, and humanization. The study employs Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) as theoretical framework.  The study argues that the narrative functions as a pedagogical space where oppression is internalized, questioned, and ultimately resisted. The study highlights patriarchal domination, political violence, and ideological control.  Drawing on Freire’s critique of false consciousness and the banking model of domination, the study examines how awareness of structural injustice emerges through lived experience and collective struggle. It further contends that solidarity operates as a transformative force that enables resistance and disrupts systems of dehumanization. The analysis demonstrates that acts of resistance in the novel are not merely individual reactions to suffering but constitute a broader process of humanization, restoring agency, dignity, and ethical subjectivity. The study contributes to literary and pedagogical perspectives by highlighting how fictional narratives can illuminate processes of liberation and critical awakening under oppressive conditions.