Biopolitics and the emergent self-reflexive Maghribi subjectivity in Laila Lalami's Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits.
Commonsense discussions about illegal immigration in the Maghreb point the finger in the direction of authorities on both sides of the Mediterranean. The EU is reproached for closing its borders and North African governments for exploiting the problem by diverting attention elsewhere and downplaying...
| Publicado en: | Journal of North African Studies Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 807 - 830 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Sep2019
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=137968734&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 137968734 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 13629387 RIG jtl: Journal of North African Studies issn: 13629387 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Sep2019 vid: 24 iid: 5 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 137968734 10.1080/13629387.2018.1480945 ppf: 807 ppct: 23 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T db: hlh ui: 137968734 – @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 137968734 tig: atl: Biopolitics and the emergent self-reflexive Maghribi subjectivity in Laila Lalami's Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. aug: au: Mami, Fouad affil: Department of English, University of Adrar, Adrar, Algeria su: Biopolitics (Sociobiology) Undocumented immigrants North African politics & government Romanticism Gift shops sug: subj: Biopolitics (Sociobiology) Undocumented immigrants Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores North African politics & government Romanticism Gift shops keyword: Biopolitics Ha'rrga Maghrib self-reflexive Biopolitics Ha'rrga Maghrib self-reflexive ab: Commonsense discussions about illegal immigration in the Maghreb point the finger in the direction of authorities on both sides of the Mediterranean. The EU is reproached for closing its borders and North African governments for exploiting the problem by diverting attention elsewhere and downplaying its gravity. The Moroccan writer, Laila Lalami, through her collection of short stories Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (2005), prefers to focus more on the harraga populations themselves; it is their unthinking proclivities that exacerbate the problem and allow the ruling machinery to become biopolitical entities, working less for the interest of the impoverished populations and more for staying in power, no matter how. Through characters and narrative situations, Lalami shows that illegal immigration is a trap. For, even when the harrag makes it to the host country and starts sending remittances, as Aziz does, to family back at home, he remains a loser. The middle-class ideal of a steady income and improved living standards lifts the Maghrebi's spontaneity and turns him or her into a superfluous commodity, seeking always to behave, not to think. Unlike Aziz or Larbi then, Murad failed to make it to Spain. His prolonged joblessness becomes an extension of his romantic character. Shaking that romanticism off allows him eventually to reverse the biopolitical reality by embracing the art of 'story telling'. Readers find him expertly selling artworks in souvenir shops in Tangier. Success in this context is not capitalistically driven; it involves organically connecting self-important American tourists with the artwork. The tourism industry becomes less of a recognition of already ordered reality, and more of an encounter with a new one: money matters but does not determine or control the encounter. The self-reflexive Murad assumes now a constructive engagement with the world. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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