Traces of the Deleuzian nomad in Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits

ABSTRACT

In a Deleuzian-inspired deconstruction of identity, home, and subjectivity, the authors explore the cultivation of the self in Laila Lalami’s Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. Beneath the struggle for subjectivity and identity, there exists a discourse of survival that creates an image of the immigrant as the wandering and uncertain citizen. In this context, traces of the Deleuzian nomad are identified and explored in Lalami’s characters. These individuals embody qualities attributed to nomads by continuously disrupting different manifestations of fixity in their lives through various forms of resistance. For the characters in Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, possibilities for connection are visible in their struggle to disrupt the perception of a fixed identity. The tapestry of identities created reveals a nomadic potential that interrupts linear notions of being. The consequent creative force enables identities to be negotiated in an in-between space that is decentred and thrives in the realm of unpredictability.

KEYWORDS:

• Deleuze
• nomad
• decentred
• Lalami
• home
• hope

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Soudeh Oladi http://orcid/org/0000-0002-5177-1281