On the Complexities of Displacement: Wars and Wounds in Nada Awar Jarrar’s "An Unsafe Haven" (2016)

Soukaina Aouaki, Lahcen Ait Idir

Abstract


This paper studies the complexities of displacement as the product of the socio-political melancholy in Syria resulting from the so-called "Arab Spring". It focuses on Nada Awar Jarrar’s An Unsafe Haven (2016) which follows the lives of various characters who are affected by the Syrian civil war in search of refuge in Lebanon. The story taps into the Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on Lebanon as the first destination of the Syrian refugees. It vividly portrays the struggles of the “displaced” and the "nomadic" people seeking safety and stability in a world shattered by tensions and upheavals. Drawing on theoretical approaches to questions of displacement, memory, and trauma, this article examines the traumatic experience of dislocation as fuelled by civil conflicts and political volatilities. Furthermore, it explores the predicament of displacement and its wounds.


Keywords


Displacement; refugeeism; war; memory; trauma

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2024.48.2.123-135
Date of publication: 2024-07-10 11:05:49
Date of submission: 2023-06-17 02:22:29


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