NEGOTIATING IDENTITY: A POSTCOLONIAL READING OF ALI ETERAZ’S CHILDREN OF DUST

Abstract

The present study is an endeavor to analyze Ali Eteraz’ memoir Children of Dust, having a post-colonial and diasporic setting. Children of Dust is an autobiographical writing with the story of the quest for religion and identity of the early immigrants. After the birth of Eteraz, his family moved to U.S where Eteraz has experience of quest for logic and yearning for religion. The study employs a mixed theoretical framework of Homi K Bhabha and Stuart Hall’s ideas on post colonialism and diaspora, and the analysis provides a nuanced insight to the impacts of multiculturalism on a person’s identity who is surrounded by fluidity and ambivalence. The study concludes that the culture and religion of the origin are always there to have a strong influence over an individual’s true identity. The research significantly adds valuable insights to the academia on post-colonialism and diaspora.