Transculturality in Migrant Literature Three case studies of six novels by Olga Grjasnowa, Jhumpa Lahiri and Leïla Houari

Abstract

The subject of this study is transculturality in migrant literature. Following up on the results of an earlier paper, the present author now looks into the role of the agency to migrate in the creation of transcultural elements in migrant literature. Through the analysis and comparison of six novels written by three different authors (Olga Grjasnowa, Jhumpa Lahiri and Leïla Houari), three different kinds of agency were integrated in this study: forced migration due to war, voluntary migration for academic reasons, and the so-called ‘guestworkers’, who migrated due to economic reasons. The novels were analysed using six categories, which indicate transcultural elements according to existing literature: identity, dissolution of nationalist categories, stereotypes and Othering, belonging and ‘heimat’, duality and memory & trauma, and polyphony and languages. The results have demonstrated that the concepts of identity and belonging are predominant in all novels, albeit in different ways. Grjasnowa construction of a transcultural identity is more focussed on the negative effects of migration on identity and belonging. Lahiri and Houari also treat identity conflicts as well as problems with finding your roots. The overall tone, however, is different, since the protagonists undergo a development throughout the book which makes them discover themselves more and accept the richness and contradictions that come with a double identity. This study thus concludes, based on three case studies, that the agency to migrate does have an influence on the construction of a transcultural identity in migrant literature and encourages more research to confirm this as well as further research into other aspects that could have influenced this research, like the author’s gender.