The Subaltern’s Prerogative: A Postcolonial Reading of Laila Lalami’s The Moor’s Account

Abstract

A number of Arab immigrant writers opt for writing in the language of the host countries. They give much emphasis to the relationship between the Western subject and the Other, among whom is the writer Leila Lalami. The chief concern of this paper is to present a reading of Leila Lalami’s The Moor’s Account from a Post-Colonial perspective. Not only does the voicing of Mustafa from Lalami’s part become the embodiment of resistance of the occlusion of the Other, but it also brings forth an unsaid history of the sixteenth century into a twenty-first century setting. In this sense, storytelling becomes - on the one hand - an essential element in self-assertion and identity forming. On the other hand, the subaltern’s ability to speak is an act of survival among the indigenous tribes.

Keywords: Post-colonialism – voicing – hybridity – double-colonization – identity –small narratives – storytelling.

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-23-17

Publication date: August 31^st 2019