FRAGMENTED BELONGINGS: A BHABHAIAN READING OF IDENTITY CRISIS IN SHAFAK’S THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY (2024)

Abstract

This study explores the complexities of identity formation and crisis in Elif Shafak’s There Are Rivers in the Sky through the lens of Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial concepts of hybridity, mimicry, and ambivalence. Shafak’s novel presents characters who navigate transnational and diasporic spaces, negotiating the tensions between inherited cultural traditions and the pressures of assimilation in host societies. Employing a qualitative hermeneutic approach, the study interprets how the characters inhabit Bhabha’s “third space,” a liminal site where cultural negotiation produces hybrid identities that are neither fully aligned with their original culture nor entirely integrated into the dominant society. The analysis demonstrates how mimicry, through language, behavior, and social norms, functions as a strategy for survival and social mobility, while simultaneously highlighting the ambivalent psychological and social tensions experienced by diasporic subjects. Furthermore, the research emphasizes that hybridity is not a simple blending of cultures but a dynamic and sometimes contradictory process, where adaptation coexists with resistance and self-reflection. By foregrounding the intricate interplay of belonging, otherness, and selfhood, this study illuminates how diasporic and postcolonial contexts challenge fixed notions of identity, illustrating the fluid, negotiated, and multifaceted nature of contemporary human experiences across borders.