Includes bibliographical references (pages 143-146) and index.
Summary:
In Cultural Identity in Arabic Novels of Immigration: A Poetics of Return, Wessam Elmeligi introduces a new perspective of migration and identity studies that places the concept of return as central to the Arabic novel. Starting with the Islamic hijra as a quintessential migrant narrative in Arabic culture, Elmeligi analyzes novels as early as Ibn Tufayl's Hayy ibn Yaqzan and as recent as Miral Al-Tahawy's Brooklyn Heights, and as varied as Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz's adaptation of the ancient Egyptian tale of Sinuhe and Yemeni novelist Mohammed Abdul Wali's They Die Strangers, as well as novels that have not been translated to English. To contextualize these novels, Elmeligi examines features of cultural identity impacted by migration and explores the different manifestations of physical and psychological return, viewing narrative as a form of performativity of identity--back cover.
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