Exile and the struggle for identity in H. Matar’s the return and e. said’s out of place

MASTER IN ADVANCED ENGLISH STUDIES: LANGUAGES AND CULTURES IN CONTACT Departamento de Filología Inglesa 2018-2019 Final Master Thesis EXILE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR IDENTITY IN H. MATAR’S THE RETURN AND E. SAID’S OUT OF PLACE LINA GHARBI VALLADOLID 2019 The work presented in this MA thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original and my own work, except as acknowledged in the text. The work in this thesis has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Advanced English Studies: Languages and Cultures in Contact To Universidad de Valladolid By LINA GHARBI September 2019 Student’s signature_________________________________________ Approved Supervisor’s signature______________________________________ ABSTRACT This thesis offers a study of the identity issues that displaced people face while in exile, and of how literary works help in illustrating such struggles. To provide practical examples of exilic struggle and identity challenges, the study centers on two memoirs, Hisham Matar’s The Return and Edward Said’s Out of Place. With the increased hostility in the political and economic context internationally, the number of people living in exile is likely to be on the increase in the next few decades around the world. This study underlines the role of literary works in describing and exposing different types of social injustices and identity issues in relation to the violation of the human rights generally faced by people living in exile. The analysis centers on Matar's and Said's memoirs to delve into several literary and cultural elements, such as multilingualism, space and place, and multiculturalism, that the authors use to explore identity issues of people in exile. Keywords: exile, identity, and injustice ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express all my gratitude to my supervisor Jesus Benito for his commitment, support and patience. Thank you for being such a special educator, for your inspiring teaching and for making it possible. I would like also to thank my parents for all the financial support extended with love and for the passionate encouragement that made it possible for me to finish this project. Finally, I would like to dedicate this project to all members of family GHARBI and RAIR. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... 4 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter One: Identity, Language, and Exile ............................................................................. 9 1.1 Identity Issues in Exile ......................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Mobile Identities ................................................................................................................. 10 1.3 Language and Identity in Exile ......................................................................................... 12 1.4 Language as Home and Language as Exile ..................................................................... 13 Chapter Two: Language, Identity and Place in Matar’s and Said’s Memoirs ..................... 15 2.1 Hisham Mata’s memoir ..................................................................................................... 15 2.1.1 Different levels of Multilingualism in Narrating Atrocities and Suffering .............. 17 2.1.2 The Role of Literary Works and Disappearance on Mobile Identity......................... 21 2.1.3 The Use of Space and Place in Matar's Memoir........................................................ 22 2.2 Edward Said’s Out of Place ............................................................................................. 24 2.2.1 Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Said’s Identity and Metaphoric Exile ..... 24 2.2.2 Space and Place in Said’s Memoir ............................................................................. 25 2.2.3 Displacement as a Crisis or Said’s Exile .................................................................... 26 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 28 Works Cited................................................................................................................................. 30 INTRODUCTION The personal and cultural identity of an individual is an essential characteristic of their lives in contemporary life. According to Anderson (36), everyone has a unique identity that resonates with his or her country of residence. The abrupt loss of a national identity due to punitive or political reasons, subsequently leading the individual into exile, has a great impact on the person’s sense of self. Individuals moving into exile have to deal with uncertain futures and shattered pasts to face the new realities in a new world where they have to confront different cultures, languages, and ways of living. Having been separated from their certainties at home, they face the task of ‘homemaking' in their country of asylum. It may appear complex to point out any obvious connections between displaced, fragmented communities and the social empowerment and engagement concepts. The exploration of such connections is additionally exacerbated by non-integrative and restrictive policies that socially segregated asylum seekers generally encounter. Exile, deportation, and emigration are all terms that refer to the movement from one country to another. However, the motives and drives for such movement inevitable differ. Exile refers to the experiences of people being barred and expelled from their native countries characteristically due to punitive or political reasons. In contrast, emigration generally refers to voluntary movement from one country to settle in another across geographical boundaries, mainly for work-related, familyrelated, or personal issues. On the other hand, deportation usually involves the host country sending a person back to his/her country of citizenship. This paper, however, focuses on identity issues concerning people in exile, which involves an involuntary movement of people from their country of citizenship to another country. There are different forms of exile, including the political, social, and intellectual exile (Camuri 45). Currently, the contemporary globalized world is witnessing a high rate of political and economic instability in different regions that has led to the exile of many people from their home countries. Some of the challenges include having to learn the host country’s languages, cultural, and social operations. Such difficulties cause exiles to face serious identity challenges while trying to fit in the new environment as they shed off their old identity. The present study undertakes a theoretical analysis of Matar’s and Said’s memoirs, which provide a perspective of the categorization and migration process. Hisham Matar’s memoir is a significant example that demonstrates the experience of the issues of identity in exile. The memoir provides insight on Matar’s traumatic experience as a young person in exile and the identity challenges he faced while growing up in a foreign land. Matar’s father was a critic of the Gaddafi regime, and therefore, he sought asylum for his family outside Libya through the politically motivated exile. Matar’s challenges related to identity issues in exile emanate from the cultural, social, and political disconnect that he faced with his family. He felt that he could not get back home, though he was equally suffering while in the new country. The memoir presents a collection of the experiences that Mater went through in exile up to the point when he returned to Libya to look for his father. Similarly, Edward Said also narrates his estranging experiences while in exile. One of the confusing aspects for the author was that while he is an American by nationality, he referred to the mixture in his identification where the British name was placed as his first name, and the Arabic name as the second (Said 113). Said also had the experience of living in different nations and as such, faced a divided identity in his life. The author sets out to narrate his experiences in trying to understand his identity through different personality expressions. The present study undertakes an analysis of the real-life struggles and issues that people in exile face regarding their identity. The literature review will provide an analysis of the previous studies on aspects of identity such as mobile identity, identities in exile, language as home, and as an exile, among others. Further, the analysis shall involve the two memoirs in illuminating the practical application of real-life narratives in understanding and addressing identity struggles and challenges when in exile. The study will, therefore, center on highlighting the role that literary works can play in underlining the identity struggles and challenges individuals face while in exile. Chapter One: Identity, Language, and Exile This chapter explores theoretical approaches related to issues of identity, mobile identities, identities in exile, language as home, and language as space of exile. The theories provide methodological and philosophical models that help relate the work within the research context. They provide a context for the research and analysis of the literary texts. 1.1 Identity Issues in Exile As a general experience, exiled individuals have the feeling that they belong to their home nation more than they are in the host country (Stangor 215). Most people living in foreign nations face diverse cultural identities based on the disparity between their homelands and the host country. Therefore, they are under pressure to create the space and the environment in which they are likely to operate and temporarily have a sense of belonging. There are constant changes in the individual identities depending on the fluidity and the relations the person will develop over time (Doku 298). The nature of the struggle between the dominant political system and the disfranchised groups determines the process by which the exiles will get recognition in a foreign nation. The identity of an individual depends on the relationship they create and the situations that they find themselves while in the country. To overcome the identity issues, those in exile are confronted with the need to develop intrinsic mechanisms of recognizing host nations as part of their home to elicit a sense of belonging in the new countries. In addition to the cultural aspect, Doku et al. (296) add that there is a political identity in the context of operation in a new country. The nature of politics in a country is a major determinant in how the country operates which subsequently determines the native’s attitudes towards foreigners and experiences of those in exile. While supporting this observation, Stangor (211) posits that the presence of the dynamics Aristotle referred to catharsis as the cleansing and purging of emotions of fear and pity that are aroused after watching tragedies. Aristotle noted that the concept of catharsis has a metaphorical connection to the positive psychosocial humanizing imaginary or functionary of rehabilitation and renewal of human subjects or persons through art. On this basis, memoirs can be written within the same efforts and dimensions since the inherent objective of narrators is to attract some hearing to stories of victims of human rights violation, which acts as a healing catharsis for readers. Along the same lines, Kay Schaffer and Sidonie Smith attested to the fact that personal stories or memoirs are among the most powerful literary genres when denouncing the abuse on human rights insomuch as they magnify and disseminate the voices of the dissent to the local and international audiences (15). They add that the application of storytelling and narration in memoirs is crucial in the case where the pressures of the traumatic memories of the past and hopes for a better future need to be balanced (8). According to them, the storytelling process marks the starting point of the healing journey for the victims since it is a significant element in the establishment of a new identity of simultaneously longing for the past and belonging towards the future (19). The struggles in exile become evident when Matar dwells on the significant role of storytelling. For example, Matar observes that through the power of storytelling, people can travel over time and share in imaginations of their past struggles and experiences, as well as learn how to survive and endure suffering (62). As he strives to identify and rediscover himself, Matar emphasizes that storytelling is crucial for reconciliation and reparation. For example, through his father’s principles, he revives himself when noting that uncertainty and need are excellent teachers. According to Matar, while in prison, his father survived annihilation in the oppressive environment since he found consolation in recitation and creation of poetry. In this instance, Matar sought to depict how storytelling can be used as a source of relief for the victims of human rights violation and as one of the significant factors that provide life’s rejuvenation in times of struggle and difficulties. The importance of storytelling is also evident when Matar notes that his uncle “had not been erased” as well and that he was able to forgive and love everyone since he secretly wrote letters and poems to the children on the pillowcase he had stealthily smuggled during prison release (34). Matar’s struggles are depicted when exile infantilizes him and emplaces the grief of his absent father’s disappearance as a central feature of the text. Consequently, Matar seems to be motivated in writing about life, thus mapping the disruptive impacts of stunting and disempowered life in a dictatorial and repressive regime. He relates his life to a perfect depiction of history that is personalized as injustice statement that is seeking to address the problem of human rights violation. According to Schaffer and Smith (136), Matar is part of the human rights writers or activists who have personally experienced the victimization and who intend to redeem themselves from their pains, grieves, and losses for the attainment of approximate catharsis of the sufferings, thus positioning themselves as world citizens in the international sphere of civility. 2.1.1 Different levels of Multilingualism in Narrating Atrocities and Suffering An element of single consciousness, resulting in a certain monological dimension in relation to personal struggles and identity issues is apparent in Matar’s work. For example, Matar provides first-hand information about the courtyard, where he notes that much “blood was spilled (45). The use of monologism in this instance is primarily helpful in addressing the truth regarding the torture and the trauma that prisoners and other victims of the dictatorial regime had to undergo. Consequently, Matar manages to invite his readers into the dark chamber that is filled with historical trauma where many Libyans were forcefully constrained. As one of the styles of multilingualism within the narrative, Matar has used monologism to reveal the erosion and injustice of identity as he provides a personal account of the experience in the Mouth of Hell (236). For example, he uses symbolism in emphasizing his sole authority in narrating the general picture of victimization. According to Matar, the place had horrific noises (53) and “absolute darkness (55). Mikhail Bakhtin is one of the scholars that introduced the application of multilingualism in discourse analysis. As an important theorist of discourse in the 20th century, Bakhtin provided his notion of the role that dialogism, monologism, polyphony, and heteroglossia play in the presentation of literary works (Bindebir, 572). In this sense, Matar uses different voices in his text to illustrate the level of atrocities and suffering that he encountered while in exile. Notably, the knowledge Matar depicts on victimhood emanates from the smuggled letter he received while in jail, as well as from the evidentiary memories of his survived relatives, including the experiences of the prison inmates, which he referred to as the “infamous courtyard”. In many instances throughout the text, Matar would use monologism as his vehicle to examine his personal experiences. In his work the “Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics, Bakhtin embarked on the development of different concepts that would later inform much of his work. In reference to Dostoevsky’s work, Bakhtin would note that while various voices emerge as a single perspective, they are not subordinated to the author’s voice (217). According to Bakhtin, each of the voices carries their narrative weight, validity, and perspective within a literary work (211). As one of these voices, monological perspective, also called “homophony”, includes the entrenchment of a single-thought approach in the narrative (Mangum, 41). In monologism, a transcendental consciousness is used to integrate a specified context of the entire story, thus helping to expose the signifying ideologies, practices, desires, and values that are considered as critically important in the advancement of themes or plot of a literary piece. While elucidating on the significance of monological narrative, Bakhtin noted that characters in such works solely exist within the plot to contribute to the transmitting of the writer’s ideology. The author represents their ideas in the narration. The difference noted among characters is visible within the single-consciousness perspective. According to Bakhtin, such works are flat and featureless since they apply a single tone (215). However, Bakhtin failed to emphasize that monologism entrenches itself in some contexts within a narrative or a story as observed in Matar’s account. While realizing the criticism of using monological approach throughout the work, Matar also applied dialogism in describing his experience in exile. Bakhtin argues that unlike monologism, dialogism, which is also known as multi-voiced or double-voiced narrative, appreciates the multiplicity of voices and perspectives (251). From these multiple voices, the psychological and emotional perspectives of suffering in exile become evident through other characters. Bakhtin observes that as a principle, dialogism can apply as the main point of reference to a specific aesthetic field. While using this approach, each character can have the finality of personal narrative or account; he or she can relate and interact with other characters (256). Notably, Matar used other people’s stories to enrich his account of life in exile. Stories from witnesses form part of his narrative to facilitate his readers access to experiences of what happened while providing the legitimate element of extremity. For example, prisoners act as a critical source of information for Matar’s narration. They are deliberately present in the narrative as victims and witnesses of victimization that encouraged people to seek asylum. In their words, they describe the inhuman incarceration practices, which resulted in cognitive failure, insanity, and physical disability, as these practices intended to erode the corporeal and psychological integrity of individuals’ (125). Further, the prisoners account painted the grueling picture of physical pain they underwent. For instance, they refer to the latest handcuffs with a thin plastic wire that the military tightened around the prisoners’ wrists. The prisoners could feel the pain “not so much around the wrists, but inside their heads (266). When such prisoners seek asylum, the mental torture they went through affects the way they identify with their original home country. Identity issues that Matar faces demonstrate that it is easy to note the workings of polyphony in the narrative. Unlike the dialogical approach that entails two or more voices, polyphony recognizes the use of only multi-voices in literary works. According to Bakhtin, the application of the polyphonic approach is one of the central aspects observed in a wide range of discourse analyses (215). In the polyphonic narrative, the authors ensure that their narrative voice allows the characters to subvert and shock (Samovar et al.47). One of the instances of the use of the polyphonic concept is when Matar notes that in unlimited occasions, prisoners experienced physical and verbal torture, as well as the deprivation of the basic privileges of medical care, sleep, and food. According to Matar, the torturers would spill cockroaches on the chest of the prisoners, and that they could bleed from several places. In such expressions, while he takes a personal perspective as a narrator, one would argue that Matar had information about the suppression and victimization from another source, which could be the prisoners or another witness. Therefore, a hidden voice that is unrevealed to the author is evident. Further, Matar used the feelings, physical and emotional torture of the prisoners and other Libyans as another voice that described the level of inhumanity. For example, the injured bodies of the prisoners provided an indisputable picture of how the victims looked from the abyss after two decades (66). These inhuman acts on the relatives of the exiled affected how they could relate and identify themselves with the released prisoners. The extent of torture is clear from their inability to recognize their friends and loved ones, thus causing identity issues among the prisoners and the exiled people who came to reconnect with the prisoners. According to Matar (65), this was a systematic approach by the regime to cover up the long list of social, economic, and political injustices (65). 2.1.2 The Role of Literary Works and Disappearance on Mobile Identity In Hisham Matar’s The Reutrn, disappearance is one of the key examples that carry the features of mobile identity. The kidnapping of Matar’s father, Jaballa Matar, marked the beginning of the long journey of finding a person that would boost his efforts of self-identity. After the disappearance, the author’s father started to exist only in letters, photographs, and stories that he composed. Matar would also assume the presence of his father through memories and stories that his brother, mother, cousins, uncles, and ex-prisoners narrated. According to Ghinea (467), his father’s voice in the form of an audio-letter and as a ghost haunted his imaginations and memory, which to some extent acted as a sensory presence that he could only realize through an unsuccessful search of identity in Libya. Notably, the knowledge gained from the smuggled letters, audio, and other sources played an instrumental role in enhancing Matar’s belief that his father’s last location was in the infamous Abu Salim prison, commonly referred to as The Last Stop. Matar also learned that prison was where Libya’s regime “sent those it wanted to forget (10). While the literary sources positively contributed to the author’s efforts of personal identification, the disappearance was the regime’s approach to limit self and collective identity. According to Nayar, the element of disappearance in Matar’s text empowered the regime in operating the “Endo-colonial policies and practices to destroy subjectivity” (25). Nayar adds that people viewed such practices as a legitimate process of the state in protecting its authority against the real and perceived enemies (25). The process includes emplacing and classifying individuals that appear as a threat to the State into different categories (Doku et al. 295). Endocolonialism was evident in Jaballa Matar’s disappearance. In this perspective, the dissident identity of the author’s father and his family was a threat to the Libyan regime. While many dissidents vanished under horrific conditions, the government agents ensured that no traces of their victims remained after the murder (Kebede 58). The disappearance affected Matar immensely. For example, the burden and grief of the unavailable father changed Matar as a subject. According to Smith and Watson (216), Matar’s identity became vulnerable given the absence of the personal and communal social organization and the long history of the writer’s kinship. Additionally, the absence of the physical connection to cultural constructs made the will to pursue dreams and self-realization futile and “impotent” (34). On this premise, the inability of Matar to abate the fate of his father contributed to the former’s placement in the genocidal imagery where the dehumanizing process aims at eroding his subjectivity. 2.1.3 The Use of Space and Place in Matar's Memoir In the literary perspective, Matar used space and place to emphasize how he identified with the tribulations that his father, himself, ex-prisoners, and the general Libyan society were going through. In many discourse analyses, place has been the reference point in the definition of space. As a concept, place may change based on different functions and uses, such as in the cultural, political, and social context. Matar’s life in exile placed a significant space between him and his father. The difference in place and space waned off the identity that he shared with his father. From the narration, Matar compensated for the space and place disconnect by having hope that his father was okay and trying to identify himself with his father through objects and stories concerning him. While using the super-modernity approach, the French anthropologist, Marc Augé, took the perspective of the anthropological place with movement and language elements in the definition of space (75). However, he first defined place as historical, relational, and concerned with one’s identity (Auge 76). Consequently, the places specificity should be the reference point when defining and identifying those who live in the vicinity. Therefore, according to Auge, memory and emotions of people are central elements in the understanding of place as a concept. However, he went further to claim the existence of the opposite of place, the non-place (78). Auge argued that non-place is the space without relational or historical identity or connotation, thus lacking memory or an emotional attachment (77). The observation of Augé has the support of Varnelis and Friedberg’s argument. The two agree that places provide for spaces and that the former should be locations where those with distinct identities form and develop close relationships (3). While supporting this perspective as well, Gieryn (465) adds that the definition of space and place should take into consideration the compilation of objects or things at a specific location within the universe, which brings people with distinct characteristics together. In the Matar’s account, he refers to Abu Salim prison and generally the state of Libya as two unique places in the text. Although the prison provides his father with a place and space to “stay” in exile, it was a source of grief for both of them. According to Matar, the prison provoked inexplicable grief” (247). As a center of focus, it may be prudent to consider the prison as occupying virtual space in Matar’s heart. Therefore, based on Auge’s argument, the prison was not a dislocated non-place, a place of misidentification and loss; it was rather a place that provided historical and relational connotations that Matar could identify with. 2.2 Edward Said’s Out of Place The lyrical, compassionate “Out of Place” memoir chronicles Edward Said’s feelings of displacement in both his family and cultural settings while exposing the roots of the author’s political, intellectual, and personal unfolding. As a distinguished cultural critic, Said has attracted a reputation as a public intellectual and a writer who championed the Palestinians’ cause. This section seeks to analyze memoir, Out of Place, in terms of the use of literary skills in revealing exile identity struggles. 2.2.1 Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Said’s Identity and Metaphoric Exile The life of migration, travel, and exile characterized Said’s identity throughout his life. According to Said, there was nothing more paradoxically sought after and painful than his life of constant displacements from cities, countries, environments, and languages, a condition that helped to keep him in motion for many years (216). Notably, Said lived in four different countries and cities: the United States, Lebanon, Egypt, and Palestine. On this premise, the memoir sheds light on the different multilingual and multicultural environments that shaped his identity over time. In naive words, Said notes that he cannot remember the last language that he spoke. However, he emphasizes that the two languages, English and Arabic, have been critical linguistic elements in his life (216). The depth of multilingualism in his account appears when he states that ironically and nostalgically, the two languages would resonate, comment, and correct each other. While both are seen as his first language, he notes that such primal and noble instability originates from his mother, who spoke Arabic and English as well (4). Gieryn (52) argues that the closeness of Said to his mother is notable in his admission that the two wrote to each other in English. In Egypt, Said’s family was part of the privileged Arabic groups known as the Shami. He depicts Cairo as a vibrant and cosmopolitan city in his description. In reference to his account, Said’s family has overlapping and porous cultures and melding of the new and old traditions. On this basis, the environment of the author’s family acted as the antithesis of the Orient concept, which is somehow homogenous, static, and backward. However, Gieryn (56) opposes this position by noting that while Said’s family has the characteristics of the Orientalist’s ‘Orient’ concept, categorizing it as backward is disputable. With a Lebanese mother and a Palestinian father who later became an American citizen, Said illustrates the unforgettable experience of multiculturalism. For example, he remembers the remarkable memories of his life in Palestine: “a place that I could take for granted” (Said 215). Additionally, the impact of living in foreign and multicultural society on Said’s identify is significant. Said seemed to struggle in identifying himself and setting his priorities on the life goals he wanted to achieve while in a new country. For example, after moving to the United States, he states that the background, nationality, real origins, as well as past actions, haunted him, making him unable to settle in the new country. In his deliberately naïve suggestion, Said wishes that we all be Arab, or all-European and American, or all-Muslim, or all-Orthodox Christian, or all-Egyptian...(212) According to him, such identification will help to counter the challenge of recognition, and exposure, and easily answer the question, What are you (5). 2.2.2 Space and Place in Said’s Memoir In his memoir, Said describes various homes he occupied in life, which include homes in Jerusalem, Cairo, Lebanon, and the United States. Therefore, the use of space and place becomes instrumental in highlighting his attempts at reconstructing the creation of personal identity over time and space. Writing as a homeless and displaced subject, the author sought to use the literary work to ground himself in a specific space. According to Kebede (14), Said used space and place to understand and classify his nomadic life across different countries and cities. On this basis, the O'Beirne, Enrik. “Mapping the Non-Lieu in Marc Auge's writings.” Forum for Modern Language Studies, vol. 42, no. 1, 2006, pp.38-50. Said, Edward W. Out of Place: A Memoir. Granta, 2010. Samovar, Larry A., et al. Intercultural Communication: A Reader. Cengage Learning, 2014. Schaffer, Kay, and Sidonie Smith. Human Rights and Narrated Lives: The Ethics of Recognition. Palgrave Macmillan., 2004. Jhangiani, Rajiv, Hammond Tarry, and Charles Stangor. Principles of Social Psychology. NOBA, 2017. Turki, Fawaz. Exile's Return: The Making of a Palestinian American. Free Press, 1993. Van Dijk, Teun A. "Ideology and discourse analysis." Journal of Political Ideologies, vol. 11, no. 2, 2006, pp. 115-140.