Eleventh Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Lalami explores the experiences of African-Muslim migrants trying desperately to illegally migrate from Morocco to Spain by traversing the Mediterranean in overcrowded, ill-equipped boats. Written in 2005, this polyvocal narrative is increasingly relevant as it re-presents the options of home and the diaspora for the two Muslim men and women experiencing multiple marginalizations and inequities both in their homelands as well as in Spain. Cultural and religious beliefs are examined within the frames of time and place. The fragmented lives portrayed in Lalami’s fragmented narrative are constructed to coalesce in underscoring the poignancy of belonging and unbelonging of individuals within global as well as local social contexts. The emphasis is on the violation of the human rights of those migrants who pursue dangerous routes to physically distance themselves from their roots in their desperate bid for economic survival, with the writer suggesting that success may be attained instead through re-imagining possibilities in the context of home.