Depiction of Exile as dispossession in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret (2005)

Abstract

Exile as a key feature in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret (2005). Also prevalent is the theme of dispossession in exile. This article discusses the experiences of exiles in Leila Aboulela’s (2005) Minaret; it investigates the depiction of exile as dispossession in the mentioned novel. It traces why and how exile becomes a subject of dispossession due to the undesirable but sometimes inevitable experiences associated with exile. The study was premised on the postcolonial theory – which seeks to deconstruct the legacy of colonialism and is concerned with the impact of European imperialism on both the colonised and coloniser. Texts based on this theory were used to analyse the novel under study. The data was obtained by a close reading of the primary texts along with secondary texts from the internet and others in print. A textual checklist was used to guide and organise the data collection stage. The study found that forms of dispossession include displacement and rootlessness, identity crisis, cultural loss, and Islamophobia. It was seen that most of these forms were a result of the attitudes and structures that were developed during European imperialism and have been perpetrated by the imbalance of power that existed between the colonisers and the colonised. It was also revealed that these negative experiences are brought about by a cultural and power dynamic that makes an exile an outsider and inferior in society; the exile, thus (exiles), lacks representation and a voice. This hinders the integration into the new society and leaves an exile without a concrete sense of belonging or identity.