Oceanic Ecologies and Unbelonging in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s novel, "Paradise"

• In Event: Migration, Africa, and Healing

Description for Program

Twenty first century African migration narratives involving children reflect recent waves of migration both on and off the continent. These narratives include literary texts and films in which, according to Cajetan Iheka and Jack Taylor, exile and transnationalism inform not just the content, but also the aesthetics. Often, the fictional migrants featured in these narratives experience what Simon Lewis has called “doubly diasporic identities” in that they share a common sense of homelessness rather than a familiar notion of home. In this paper, I will analyze the confluence of homelessness and oceanic ecologies with reference to Yusuf, the young protagonist of Abdulrazak Gurnah’s novel, "Paradise." Set in a fictional country resembling Tanzania in the early years of the 20th century, this narrative unfolds alongside the Indian Ocean, and includes characters who frequently sail across it. After being sold as a bonded laborer due to his father’s debts, young Yusuf travels all around Tanzania, including its coast and its interior. As he does so, his movement is often restricted by Aziz, the merchant he is bonded to. Despite his good stewardship of the land, Yusuf slowly realizes that his country will never provide him with a permanent sense of belonging. Surprisingly, however, he chooses, at the end, not to abandon the land for the sea, but to join a troop of ruthless German soldiers imposing their own versions of social and environmental justice in brutal and deadly ways.

Author

• Joya Uraizee, Saint Louis University