Cultural Hybridity in the Postcolonial Fiction: A Comparative Study of Season of Migration to the North and Admiring Silence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53286/arts.v7i3.2668Keywords:
Postcolonialism, Cultural Hybridity, Identity Conflict, Comparative Literature, Cultural IdentitiesAbstract
This study examines the representation of cultural hybridity in two postcolonial novels: Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih and Admiring Silence by Abdulrazak Gurnah. Both protagonists serve as central figures for exploring hybridity, having lived through colonial and post-independence periods, studied in England, and acquired its language and culture. Despite these shared experiences, neither succeeds in achieving integration or establishing an in-between space for hybrid identity. the paper begins with an overview of Homi Bhabha’s theory of cultural hybridity, followed by an analysis of how hybridity is portrayed through the protagonists in the two novels. It then addresses the failure of hybridity and incorporates critical perspectives from Western scholars. The study concludes that, although hybridity reflects cultural interaction between colonizer and colonized, it remains confined within the dominance of colonial discourse and its narratives of representing the “Other.” By comparing the two works, the research highlights the complexities of identity formation and the inherent challenges in transcending colonial structures.
Downloads
References
أهل بن الطالب، م. ع. (2023). ما بعد ثنائيات الخطاب الاستشراقي المانوية الصلبة: اليقين الحضاري وعسكرة الهجنة الثقافية في رواية (موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال). مجلة تجسير، 5(1)، ص 85-106.
أشكروفت، ب.، غريفيث، غ.، وتيفن، ه. (2006) الرد بالكتابة: النظرية والتطبيق في آداب المستعمرات القديمة. (شهرت العالم، ترجمة). المنظمة العربية للترجمة (تاريخ النشر الأصلي 1989).
الموسوي، م. ج. (2022). رواية ما بعد-الاستعمار العربية: مواجهة التذبذب الملتبس. (موسى الحالول، ترجمة). كلمة، (تاريخ النشر الأصلي 2003).
بابا، ه. (2006). موقع الثقافة. (ثائر ديب؛ ترجمة). المركز الثقافي العربي. (تاريخ النشر الأصلي 1994).
دومة، خ. (2010). عدوى الرحيل، موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال ونظرية "مابعد الاستعمار". دار أزمنة للنشر والتوزيع.
سعيد، إ. (2024). الاستشراق: المفاهيم الغربية للشرق. (محمد عناني، ترجمة؛ ط.2). مؤسسة هنداوي (تاريخ النشر الأصلي 1987).
صالح، ا. (1987). موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال. دار العودة (تاريخ النشر الأصلي 1966).
العصيمي، ه. (2021). قلق الهوية في روايات ما بعد الاستعمار في الروايتين العربية والإنجليزية (ط.1). النادي الأدبي بالرياض.
العنزي، س. (2017). تطبيقات نظرية "ما بعد الاستعمار" في رواية "موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال". مجلة فيلولوجي، 34(67)، ص 11- 36.
فانون، ف. (2004). بشرة سوداء أقنعة بيضاء. (خليل أحمد خليل، ترجمة؛ ط.1). دار الفارابي (تاريخ النشر الأصلي 1952).
فانون، ف. (2015). معذبو الأرض. (سامي الدروبي وجمال الأتاسي، ترجمة؛ ط2). مدارات للأبحاث والنشر (تاريخ النشر الأصلي 1961).
قرنح، ع. (2024). إعجاب بالصمت. (إسكندر حمدان، ترجمة؛ ط.1). دار أثر (تاريخ النشر الأصلي 1996).
لومبا، آ. (2007) في نظرية الاستعمار وما بعد الاستعمار الأدبية. (محمد عبد الغني غنوم؛ ترجمة). دار الحوار للنشر والتوزيع (تاريخ النشر الأصلي 2002).
الناجي، ح. (2020). قراءة في كتاب "موقع الثقافة" لهومي بابا: الفضاء الثالث مدخل إلى قضية التهجين وإدانة الفكر الاستعماري. مركز معارف للدراسات والأبحاث، متاح على الرابط: https://shorturl.at/xI5Fx.
References
Ahl bin Al-Talib, M. A. (2023). Beyond the Manichean Binaries of Orientalist Discourse: Civilizational Certainty and the Militarization of Cultural Hybridity in Season of Migration to the North. Tajseer Journal, 5(1), 85–106. (in Arabic).
al-ʿAnazī, S. (2017). Applications of Postcolonial Theory in the Novel Season of Migration to the North. Philology Journal, 34(67), 11–36. (in Arabic).
al-Musawi, M. J. (2022). The Arabic Postcolonial Novel: Debating Ambiguous Margins (Musa al-Ḥalwul, Trans.). Kalima. (Original work published 2003). (in Arabic).
al-Nāji, H. (2020). A Reading of Homi Bhabha’s The Location of Culture: The Third Space as an Entry Point to Hybridity and a Critique of Colonial Thought. Maʿārif Center for Studies and Research. Available at https://shorturl.at/xI5Fx. (in Arabic).
Al-Shara, Z. A.. (2023). The Fallacies of Bridging the East and West in Tayeb Salih’s ’Season of Migration to the North’ and Laila Halaby’s ’Once in a Promised Land’. Dirasat: Human and Social Sciences, 50(3), 330–343. https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v50i3.100
al-ʿUṣaymī, H. (2021). Identity Anxiety in Postcolonial Arabic and English Novels (1st ed.). Riyadh Literary Club. (in Arabic).
Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2006). The empire writes back: Theory and practice in post-colonial literatures (Shahret Al-ʿAlam, Trans.). Arab Organization for Translation. (Original work published 1989). (in Arabic).
Bhabha, H. (2006). The location of culture (Thaer Deeb, Trans.). Arab Cultural Center. (Original work published 1994). (in Arabic).
Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge.
Bhabha, H. K. (2003). Cultural diversity and cultural differences. In B. Ashcroft, G. Griffiths, & H. Tiffin (Eds.), The post-colonial studies reader (pp. 206-209). London: Routledge (First Published 1995).
Childs, P., & Williams, P. (2006). An introduction to post-colonial theory. Harlow: Longman (First published 1996).
Douma, K. (2010). The contagion of departure: Season of Migration to the North and postcolonial theory. Azminah Publishing. (in Arabic).
Easthope, A. (1998). Bhabha, hybridity and identity. Textual Practice, 12(2), 341-348.
Fanon, F. (2004). Black Skin, White Masks (Khalīl Aḥmad Khalīl, Trans.; 1st ed.). Dār al-Fārābī. (Original work published 1952). (in Arabic).
Fanon, F. (2015). The Wretched of the Earth (Sāmī al-Darūbī & Jamāl al-Atāsī, Trans.; 2nd ed.). Madarat for Research and Publishing. (Original work published 1961). (in Arabic).
Geesey, P. (1997). Cultural Hybridity and Contamination in Tayeb Salih's "Mawsim al-hijra ila al-Shamal (Season of Migration to the North). Research in African Literature. 28 (3), p. 128-140.
Goldberg, D. T. (2005). Heterogeneity and hybridity: Colonial legacy, postcolonial heresy. In H. Schwarz & S. Ray (Eds.), A companion to postcolonial studies (pp. 72-86). The United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing (First Published 2000).
Gurnah, A. (2024). Admiring Silence (Iskandar Ḥamdan, Trans.; 1st ed.). Dar Athar. (Original work published 1996). (in Arabic).
Hassan, W. (2003). Tayeb Salih: Ideology and the Craft of Fiction. New York: Syracuse University Press.
Huddart, D. (2014). Hybridity and cultural rights: Inventing global citizenship. London: Routledge.
John, J., Tarawneh, Y., & Tawarneh, Y. (1986). Quest for identity: The I-Thou imbroglio in Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North. Arab Studies Quarterly, 8(2), 161–177.
Kraidy, M. M. (2005). Hybridity, or the cultural logic of globalization. Philadelphia:Temple University Press.
Loomba, A. (2007). Colonialism/Postcolonialism (Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ghanī Ghanoum, Trans.). Dār al-Ḥiwār for Publishing and Distribution. (Original work published 2002). (in Arabic).
Malak, A. (2009). Colonial encounters or clash of civilizations?: The fiction of Naguib Mahfouz, Tayeb Salih, and Ahdaf Soueif. In S. M. S. Ghandour (Ed.), A sea for encounters: Essays towards a postcolonial commonwealth (pp. 243–251). https://doi.org/10.1163/9789042027657_020
Said, E. (2024). Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the East (Muḥammad ʿAnānī, Trans.; 2nd ed.). Hindawi Foundation. (Original work published 1987). (in Arabic).
Salih, T. (1987). Season of Migration to the North. Dār al-ʿAwda. (Original work published 1966). (in Arabic).
Steiner, T. (2006). Mimicry or translation? The Translator, 12(2), 301-322. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2006.10799220
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 علياء محمود باكير
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright and Licensing
copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, meaning that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. These conditions allow for maximum use and exposure of the work.
