Identity shift in South Asian and middle eastern selected novels

• Main Author: Muttair, Albuhamdan Basim Saadoon
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English; English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: T Technology (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/11007/1/24p%20ALBUHAMDAN%20BASIM%20SAADOON%20MUTTAIR.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/11007/2/ALBUHAMDAN%20BASIM%20SAADOON%20MUTTAIR%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/11007/3/ALBUHAMDAN%20BASIM%20SAADOON%20MUTTAIR%20WATERMARK.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/11007/

In literature, identity and identity shift are very essential issues in the postcolonial world. Identity is an indication of similarities and differences between some people from others. From a psychological perspective, identity shift is the people’s identification through the context and culture they encounter. It is one of the most contested subjects in the post-colonial era. However, in the past, the focus on postcolonial studies was only on fictional texts. Very few literary studies have looked beyond the text into real-life identity-related perspectives. Thus, the present study has just done that and focused on identity shift in fictional texts and its reflection in the real world. This qualitative research has investigated identity change, the effect of Self/ Other, and identity shift of the main characters of selected novels. The purpose of such a combination is to attempt the similarities and differences between the two novels. This study assumes that an immigrant who migrates to a western country suffers from many social issues namely: racism, economics, and inequality. Data was collected from Kiran Desai’s, The Inheritance of Loss along with Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North. The data were thematically analysed following Braun& Clark’s six essential steps: reading, highlighting, coding, reviewing themes, identifying themes, and writing up. The findings of this study, therefore, revealed that the main characters maintained their native cultural identity and yet they gained aspects of the other identity. Hence, the effect of displacement has been immense because it changed the individuality of the migratory people in several ways. Moreover, as the main characters leave their homeland, they are both exposed to become unfamiliar with the host land’s culture. They confronted new ways of life that radically differed from their native cultural traditions. Consequently, they accepted the host land’s culture. So, they are caught in new social circumstances that require a new lifestyle. This gives the impression that the immigrants in the western countries have been lost between the two identities in their struggle to adapt themselves to a new environment and social milieu. The originality of this research is the comparative features of the fictional Indian migration, projected in Desai’s, The Inheritance of Loss and Salih’s Season of Migration to the North experience in the UK and the USA. Thus, this study can be fruitful to help the immigrants to gain a wider perspective on their status as immigrants in the host countries as well as come to terms with mutual understanding with other immigrants in the same country. Furthermore, it can be a benefit for future immigrants who wish to immigrate to the western world. Subsequently, this research functions as a guide to the Indian and Arabs who plan to migrate to foreign countries and could pave the way for further discussion in the realm of immigrants’ adaptability in the host countries