Migration, alienation or hybridity, The comparative study of The Enigma of the Return and The Gloppy Land

Thanks to migration and mass media such as television and cyberspace, we live in a transnational and transcultural world where cultural and identity signifiers constantly come into contact and are interwoven. The offshoot is the formation of a new culture and identity no longer rooted in one land and nation; rather they have been redefined and hybridized so that their survival and growth are secured in the contemporary world. Influenced by this transnational world, the literature narrates the life story of deterritorialized people who have migrated in search of a better life. Dany Laferrière’s The Enigma of the Return (2009) and Keivan Arzaghi’s The Gloppy Land (2011) richly illustrate the outcomes of accepting and rejecting this hybridity. Drawing on Homi Baba's postcolonial theory and Jacques Lacan's theory of alienation, we undertake a comparative study of these two novels. The analysis exhibits how migrants such as Dany and Arash's father struggle and experience alienation due to their reluctance to accept the laws governing the host country and its cultural signifiers, in addition to the rejection of the existing reality or grief over separation from their homeland. On the other hand, characters like Dany and Sanam embrace hybridity and consider migration a means for attaining success [in their life]. Thus, Dany realizes his driving ambition to be a famous writer, whereby he not only becomes a member of the host country, but also uses it to fight and return to his native land.