Reframing the Intersection of Subaltern Identities in Displaced Spaces: Survival amidst the Hegemonic Powers in Malala Yousafzai's We Are Displaced

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss displacement, marginalisation, and intersectionality as used by Malala Yousafzai in her memoir, We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World (2019). The study explores the intersection of race, gender, and nationality to sustain systemic marginalisation and exclusion by analyzing the experiences of refugee women using the theory of intersectionality proposed by Crenshaw (2015) and the subaltern theory that was proposed by Gayatri Spivak. These alienation and hybrid identities have majorly rendered the voiceless women in the refugee backgrounds disconnected with both the host culture, and their native cultures. Previous studies on the social exclusion of groups indicate a feeling of structural inequality in the economic, education, and politics. Nevertheless, displacement and subalternity have been less studied in relation to one another. This paper fills this gap by examining the Yousafzai memoir as voice of the oppressed and focuses on the traumatic trauma, loss and identity crisis experienced by the displaced individuals. The study, through the use of close textual analysis, reveals institutional biases and the ubiquitous nature of the effects of marginalisation on the life of refugees. These results show that displacement does not only cause the loss of cultural belonging but also exacerbates the hindrances to social and economic inclusion. The research paper reconstructs stories of survival and resilience about refugee experience and thereby adds value to the discursive practices concerning refugees by unveiling the requirements for just policies and representational equity within the dominant cultural contexts.

References

Beauvoir, S. de. (1953). The second sex (H. M. Parshley, Trans.). A. A. Knopf.

Dwivedi, O. P. (2007). Managing development in a global context. In O. P. Dwivedi (Ed.),

Managing development in a global context (pp. 62–79). Palgrave Macmillan.

Gaurav, M. (2022). Patriarchy, post-coloniality and Pakistan: Tracing Spivak's idea of subaltern in Malala's I Am Malala. Journal of Critical Studies, 5(1), 45–59.

Kumari, S., & Shaikh, F. (2023). A diasporic analysis of We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai. SBBU Journal of Social Sciences, 1(2), 71–79.

Niam, M. (2017). Hegemonic masculinities as seen in I Am Malala. Journal of Gender and Culture Studies, 2(1), 88–96.

Snow, M. (2013). When idols turn to sand: How the West nearly killed Malala Yousafzai. Foreign Policy Journal.

Safran, W. (1991). Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return. Diaspora: A journal of transnational studies, 1(1), 83-99.

Mukhopadhyay, S. (2018). Stuart Hall’s “Diaspora Identity” and Caribbean Poetry (Doctoral dissertation, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka).

Borgohain, I. A., & Ammari, D. (2022). Between the homeland and diaspora: Identity Dilemma in   Indian literature. World, 12(1).

Macwan, H. (2014). Struggle for Identity and Diaspora in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, 3(12), 45-49.

Sumathi, P. N. (2013). Diaspora and its Impact in the select novels of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Shanlax International Journal of English, 1(3).

Clifford, J. (1994). Diasporas. Cultural Anthropology,  9(3), 302–338. http://www.jstor.org/stable/656365

Cohen, Robin, (1997). Global Diasporas: An Introduction, London, UCL Press

Yousafzai, M. (2017). Malala’s magic pencil (Kerascoët, Illus.). Little, Brown Books for Young             Readers.

Yousafzai, M. (2019). We are displaced: My journey and stories from refugee girls around the    world. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Dimitriu, I. S. (2021). Literary representations of home, belonging and unbelonging. British and             American Studies, 27, 271–306.

Kumari, S., & Shaikh, F. (2023). A diasporic analysis of We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai. SBBU Journal of Social Sciences, 1(2), 71–79.

Mignolo, W. D., & Walsh, C. E. (2018). On decoloniality: Concepts, analytics, praxis. Durham: Duke University Press.

Sari, M. A., & Saktiningrum, N. (2021). Non-American Black women’s empowerment. Poetika: Jurnal Ilmu Sastra, 9(1), 33–42. https://doi.org/10.22146/poetika.64823

UNHCR. (2020). Global trends: Forced displacement in 2020. https://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends2020/ 

Crenshaw, K. (2015, September 24). Why intersectionality can’t wait. The Washington Post.