Hybrid Identities and Muslim Faith in Leila Aboulela’s Novels: Minaret and The Translator

Abstract

ABSTRACT This dissertation explores how Hybrid Identities are constructed in relation to Muslim Faith through Leila Aboulela’s selected works, The Translator (1999), and Minaret (2005). The two novels depict Muslims’ quest for identity in western Diaspora, the construction of hybrid identities in the framework of Islamic religion and the role of faith in this process. This study offers another perspective of identity construction; it discusses hybrid identity formation with the interference of a significant religious element: Muslim faith. It also stresses the influential relationship between religion, faith and identity. The selected novels are studied thematically; the study makes recourse to the theory of hybridity in postcolonial studies by Homie Bhabha and in cultural studies by Stuart Hall. The first chapter consists of a reference to the novels’ historical and social contexts, as well as theoretical background. The second chapter discusses themes of Islamic faith, hybrid identity, and religious conversion, as well as the role of elements of this type in self-identification and relation with the other. Additionally, the chapter provides a thorough analysis of characters’ development in the selected novels with special emphasis on characters that experiences identity hybridization. The findings of this study show that Aboulela integrates religious faith in portraying the configuration of Muslim identity, and the construction of hybrid identities