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Othering and disillusionment in Laila Lalami’s The Other Americans

Bibliographic Data

ID12915762
AuthorsAymane Edouihri (0000-0003-4719-081X, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume14
Issue1
Pages1-8
Publication date2021-01-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican and Black Diaspora An International Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1752-8631 • E-ISSN: 1752-864X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17528631.2021.1868158
OpenAlexW3121971722
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited6

The question of identity (re)constructions across different locations is central to diasporic literature. Voluntary or forced exile, diasporic characters participate in different cultural identity processes, attempting, for example, to break through solid walls of excolonial stereotypes, superiority and subjugation constructs. In this context, Laila Lalami casts light on the overshadowed and silenced stories of the displaced migrant in seminal works as Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, Secret Son, the Moor’s Account and The Other Americans. The Other Americans recounts the story of a Moroccan migrant family whose hope of an American dream comes to break on the shores of a reality of being ‘Othered’; relegated to a lower status by the white-dominated society. In this vein, this paper seeks to study how these issues are represented in relation to the articulation and negotiation of ‘new identities’ and how disillusioned they become in a host society which is not less barren and mirage-like than the Mojave Desert itself

Aesthetics · Art · Articulation (sociology · Context (archaeology · Dream · Identity (music · Identity negotiation · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Psychology

  • The postsecular feminist turn in Moroccan diaspora studies

    Open Access•Kaoutar El Felly•African Identities•2026

  • Problematizing the American nationalist discourse in Laila Lalami’s The Other Americans

    Rachid Lamghari•African Identities•2025

  • Post-Colonial Studies

    Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths et al.•Post-Colonial Studies•2013

  • Islamophobia, Muslimophobia or racism? Parliamentary discourses on Islam and Muslims in debates on the minaret ban in Switzerland

    Open Access•Jennifer E Cheng•Discourse & Society•2015

  • Local Natures, Global Responsibilities

    Laurenz Volkmann, Nancy Grimm et al.•Local Natures, Global Responsibilit…•2010

Citations per year2
Citation span2025 - 2026 (2)
Highly citedNo

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