The Right Of Return: Myth Or Reality In Susan Abulhawa's Mornings In Jenin (2010)

Résumé: This paper examines the notions of diaspora, home, and return in Susan Abulhawa’s novel Mornings in Jenin (2010), which chronicles the Palestinians’ plight of exile and displacement. This paper argues that the novel set in different spaces and times displays how home is physically and imaginatively constructed. As the characters repeatedly recount and retell their stories to multi-generations, home becomes not just a mythical space or an omnipresent character in their narratives and memories, but also a physical location to return to. Thus, this study finds that although Amal experiences multiple displacements, she finally returns home to assert the right of return and survival against denial and annihilation. Abulhawa also seems to suggest that the act of return or coming home, though entails somehow ambivalent feelings of belonging and estrangement, home for the returnee is not just a physical place, but also it is possible to feel home in inter-personal relationships such as friendships, motherhood, and love.

Publié dans la revue: مجلة البحوث و الدراسات الإنسانية