Crossing Borders and Blurring Identities: A Transnational Analysis of Exile in Samuel Shimon's An Iraqi in Paris (2005(

Abstract

Using Arjun Appadurai’s framework of global cultural flows from Modernity at Large (1996), this paper investigates the idea of exile and identity in Samuel Shimon’s An Iraqi in Paris novel. Drawing on the principle of Appadurai’s five 'scapes' (ethnoscapes, mediascapes, ideoscapes, technoscapes and financescapes), this analysis examines how Joey’s journey across borders shapes his identity formation. Joey's hybrid, transnational identity throughout his passage through diverse cultural and ideological terrains develops through a cultural sort of in-betweeness, which is marked by a fascination with Hollywood and interacting with foreign authorities. With a focus on the impact of globalization on identity construction, this paper discusses how experience in exile literature breaks the rigidity of the modern stereotypical conception of an identity and invites the development of complex, fluid identities that transcend national boundaries.