ALTERNATIVE DISCOURSE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: UNDERSTANDING IMMIGRANT IDENTITY THROUGH HISTORICAL FICTION
Author
Ghent, Lavinia-Roxana
Term
4. term
Publication year
2023
Abstract
This thesis examines how historical fiction can serve as an alternative discourse in International Relations to illuminate immigrant identity and (trans)generational trauma. It asks how historical fiction, as an alternative discourse in IR, contributes to understanding immigrant identity and generational trauma. Framed by poststructuralist theory and a theory-guided case study design, it analyzes Elif Shafak’s novel The Island of Missing Trees, which portrays the aftermath of the 1974 Cypriot conflict through the experiences of displaced families. By reading the novel’s language, symbols, and narrative structures, the study explores the fluid, multicultural formation of identity, the role of post-memory, and the indeterminacy of historical truth shaped by official and personal stories. The analysis also situates fictional writing within soft power and cultural diplomacy, showing how literary narratives mirror global issues and open space to question dominant accounts of the past. While not claiming to resolve historical debates, the findings suggest that historical fiction can deepen understanding of migrant trajectories and identity negotiations, and that novel writing constitutes a meaningful alternative discourse in IR.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan historisk fiktion kan fungere som en alternativ diskurs i internationale relationer og kaste lys over immigrantidentitet og (trans)generationelle traumer. Det stiller spørgsmålet om, hvordan historisk fiktion som alternativ diskurs i IR bidrager til forståelsen af immigrantidentitet og generational traume. Med et poststrukturalistisk udgangspunkt og et teori-styret casestudiedesign analyseres Elif Shafaks roman The Island of Missing Trees, som skildrer eftervirkningerne af Cyperns konflikt i 1974 gennem oplevelserne hos fordrevne familier. Ved at læse romanens sprog, symboler og fortællestrukturer undersøger studiet identitetens flydende, multikulturelle tilblivelse, post-minde og den historiske sandheds ubestemthed, formet af officielle og personlige fortællinger. Analysen placerer samtidig fiktionel skrivning i feltet for blød magt og kulturel diplomati og viser, hvordan litterære narrativer afspejler globale problemstillinger og åbner rum for at udfordre dominerende beretninger om fortiden. Uden at hævde at afklare historiske kontroverser peger resultaterne på, at historisk fiktion kan nuancere forståelsen af migrantforløb og identitetsforhandlinger, og at romanen udgør en meningsfuld alternativ diskurs i IR.
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