Journal Article

The Diaspora of Iraqi Identity in Western Exile

Al-Jobury, Zainab Abd-Allah Hussein

2022

Overview

Today, the issue of identity crisis has become one of the most controversial problems facing the Arab societies, especially the Iraqi ones who are suffering from internal wars, terrorism and sectarian issues that have contributed to their displacement and loss of identity. To be able to lead a normal and safe life, most of Iraqi people migrate to the West willingly or forcefully. This research argues the diaspora and loss of Iraqi identity in Western exile paying a big attribute to the internal conflict between keeping the original identity or harmonizing with the new one. Batool Al-Khudairi, the Iraqi writer, weaves through her novel A Sky So Close (1999) the cultural and intellectual clash between the West and the East. The research aims to illustrate through the writer's perspective, the echo of ordinary daily actions from the Western and the Eastern cultural point of views; showing how happiness, sadness, ailment and all human reactions and emotions may vary when two different cultures are intermingled. This study is divided into two sections and a conclusion. Section one introduces the diasporic Iraqi identity in Western exile, and Batool Al-Khudairi's life and main works. Section two deals with the novel's analysis according to the cultural differences between the East and West and the protagonist's hybrid identity that swings' in between' belonging to her father's or mother's culture.

• Publisher: الجامعة العراقية - مركز البحوث والدراسات الإسلامية
• Subject: الأدب العربي / الخضيري، بتول / الرواية العربية / الهوية العراقية