Fragments of Displacement: Diaspora and Identity in Chinua Achebe and Khaled Hosseini’s Works

Abstract

This paper aims at comparing the portrayal of diaspora in selected novels by Chinua Achebe and Khaled Hosseini, two great writers of different origin. Analysing the works of Achebe including “Things Fall Apart”, “No Longer at Ease”, “Arrow of God”, and “Anthills of the Savannah” as well as Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner”, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” and “And the Mountains Echoed”, this research aims at understanding how these writers depict themes of cultural displacement, identity formation and the search for belonging in diaspora. Using the method of qualitative research based on the postcolonial theory and diaspora, the study focuses on the narrative patterns, characterization, language and themes in these texts. This paper will discuss how the authors and the historical backgrounds that they come from shape the representation of diaspora, as well as how colonialism, war, and globalization affect people’s identities.The research shows that there is a similarity and a major difference of the two authors in the representation of the diaspora. While Achebe mainly concentrates on the issues of internal migration and cultural alienation due to colonialism in Nigeria, Hosseini describes the difficulties of immigrants and integration of Afghan refugees.