POSTCOLONIAL STRANGERS IN LEILA ABOUELA'S THE TRANSLATOR (1999)
Keywords:
postcolonial literature, strangers, islam and gender, home, cosmopolitanismAbstract
The aim of this article is to analyse Leila Aboulela’s semi-autobiographical novel The Translator (1999) and her portrayal of Muslim women living in Britain before the popularization of the “clash of civilizations” discourse between Islam and the West. In order to do so, the paper adopts Sara Ahmed’s theorizations on the figure of the stranger, which will be examined in relation to the novel’s main character, considering her views and feelings on migration, home, and the nation. Finally, the article will look at how Islam is presented in the novel as a cosmopolitan project which may potentially build solidarity ties between vastly different subjectivities.
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