A Study of Immigrant Diaspora in Khaled Hosseini’s a Thousand Splendid Suns and Sea Prayer

Mustafa M. Ali M. Hussein Alkhuzaie

Authors

Mustafa M. Ali M. Hussein Alkhuzaie Kufa University, College of Education, Department of English Language

Keywords:

Identity, Diaspora, Psychoanalysis, Migration, Hossieni, Immigrants

Abstract

This paper is an exploration on how immigrant diaspora is portrayed in the A Thousand Splendid Suns and Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini. It dwells on the representation of migration as a psychological and cultural process but not a movement. The study uses the acculturation theory and diasporas identity theories to address the ideas of displacement, trauma, and fragmentation of identity. The qualitative textual analysis is employed to analyze narrative techniques, characterization, and symbolism in the two works. The results reveal that diaspora is introduced as an ongoing process of identity negotiation which is determined by war, exile and loss. Migration in A Thousand Splendid Suns is presented as a slow change, which is shaped by social and political factors. In Sea Prayer, it is portrayed as a life and death emergency. The paper also concludes that the characters undergo marginalization and at least partial integration, which shows the challenges of being acculturated to new cultural settings. The paper ends by concluding that the Hosseini works point to the human price of migration by making the external displacement to be interconnected with the internal conflict. It states that diaspora is not a permanent state but a continued fight of memory, belonging, and identity. This work is significant to the research of literary diaspora because it integrates theoretical and close readings of modern writings.

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