authenticity and hybridity in alienation: national identity in the palestinian diaspora ghina al-dajani

198 Pages·2016·7.45 MB·English

by  Kodak Capture Software

AUTHENTICITY AND HYBRIDITY IN ALIENATION:
NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE PALESTINIAN DIASPORA
GHINA AL-DAJANI
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
GRADUATE PROGRAM IN LAW
YORK UNIVERSITY
TORONTO, ONTARIO
July 2013
© Ghina Al-Dajani, 2013
ii
AUTHENTICITY AND HYBRIDITY IN ALIENATION:
NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE PALESTINIAN DIASPORA
Ghina Al - Dajani
Master of Arts, 2013
Communication and Culture Joint Program
York and Ryerson Universities
Abstract
This study investigates the space in which Palestinian identity in the diaspora is formed and
where moments of plurality emerge. By focusing on the Palestinian community in Canada, this
study interrogates the processes of national identity formation and the achievement of
belonging. The study utilizes empirical research in the form of interviews as well as the existing
literature on the study of nationalism and identity to conduct a qualitative analysis of
Palestinian national identity in the diaspora today. It thus demonstrates that the Palestinian
identity is one that is intrinsically dual, with both essential and plural identities that are
constructed and negotiated within a social matrix, and that incorporate national ideologies,
collective memories, and cultural identities in the creation of a Palestinian nationality. In doing
so, the study addresses a lack of scholarship on the identity formation in third generation
Palestinian exiles, and illustrates the parameters of the ongoing Palestinian condition of
statelessness.
Key Words: Palestinian, Stateless, Diaspora, Nationalism, National Identity, Cultural Identity,
Nakba
iii
Acknowledgements
I am particularly grateful to my supervisor Prof. Daniel Drache at York University for his steady
support, guidance, and insightful contributions to this thesis; as well as my supervising
committee, Profs. Markus Reisenleitner and Susan Driver at York University, for all their
patience, direction, and help throughout the process of writing this dissertation and completing
my Master's degree. In addition, I owe an endless debt of gratitude to my family for their
steady support and patience throughout the process of completing my studies and writing this
dissertation.
I would also like to thank the participants in this study, whose valuable input and candid
conversations brought to light several issues of the Palestinian condition that would otherwise
have remained invisible. I am very grateful for the enthusiasm and openness with which the
participants approached this study, and am greatly appreciative of their continued support
throughout its completion.
This paper is dedicated to my late grandfather, Dr. Burhan Dajani, whose endless contributions
and lifelong dedication to the Palestinian cause left behind an inspiring legacy of perseverance
and an undying hope for the return of Palestine.
iv
"He says: I am from there, I am from here,
but I am neither there nor here.
v
CONTENTS
Chapter 1. Introduction 1
Method 2
Participant Profiles 4
The Existing Literature: Nationalism and Identity Studies 8
Nationalism & Authenticity 8
Spaces in Diaspora: Home, Borders, and Belonging 9
Memory - The Image from the Past 10
Citizenship and Performance 12
Modern Palestinian History: A Timeline 15
Chapter 2. Historical Background - the Palestinian Narrative 16
Palestinian Nationalism - a Brief Overview 16
1948: The Nakba and 'The way of Transfer' 18
1967: The Naksa and the Six-Day War 21
Apartheid, Oslo, and the 'Peace Process' 22
The West Bank/Gaza Strip Divide and the Gaza/Israel Wars 26
Palestinian Refugees: The Cycles of Exile 29
Palestinians in Exile: the Hierarchy of Experience 38
Chapter 3. Conceptualizing Nationalism and National Identities 42
Constructing Identity 42
Becoming/Being Palestinian 45
vi
Nationalism and Imagined Communities 48
Constructing Palestinian Nationalism SO
Land and Territory in National Identity 52
Authenticating and "Othering" in Palestinian National Identity 56
Essential Authenticity and Particularism in National Identity 59
Membership and the Politics of Recognition 61
Achieving Recognition in Diaspora 64
Chapter 4. Statelessness, Exile, and Alienation 70
Transnationalism, the Third Space, and Rhizomatic Becoming 70
Finding Home in Alienation 73
Palestinian Identity in an "Alien Space" 75
Exile and Statelessness 77
Statelessness and Alienation 79
Stateless Boundaries 82
Narcissism in the Stateless Identity 84
The "inbetweens" 86
Diaspora and Alienation 89
Chapter 5. Memory and Myth 95
Collective Memory and Collective Identity: The Nakba of the Palestinians 96
Memory: Individual, Localized, and Collective 100
Mythologizing Memories: Memory-Identities and Lived Conditions 102
Symbolizing the Nakba 105
vii
Inheriting Palestine - Inheriting Memory 107
Hybridity in Memories of the Nakba 110
Palestinian Post-Memory, "Survivor's Guilt," and "Imposter Syndrome" 112
Reinterpreting "the Nakba" 116
Memory, Crises, and Identity 118
Chapter 6. Cultural Pluralism, "Hybrids," and Citizenship Enactments 124
Performativity and National Cultural Identities 125
Cultural Capital 127
The Role of Cultural Capital 128
Performing Palestinian Identity 132
"Othering" Palestinian Culture 134
Cultural Capital and Effective Citizenship 137
Power in the Public Sphere 140
National Public Spheres and Palestinian Sphericules 142
Negotiating a Palestinian Public Sphere 145
Performing Citizenship 149
Chapter 7. Conclusions and Further Research 156
Findings and Results 156
Strengths, Weaknesses, and Recommendations for Further Research 157
Conclusion: Confluence in Alienation 158
Additional Notes 166
Notes on Palestinian Food 166
viii
Notes on Language 167
Notes on Education 168
Notes on Naji Al-Ali, Edward Said, and Mahmoud Darwish 168
Works Cited 171
List of Appendices
Appendix A: Consent Form and Personal Data Collection Form 179
Appendix B: Interview Questions Guide 183
Appendix C: Passage from "Elegy for Edward Said" by Mahmoud Darwish 185
Appendix D: Images 188
1
Chapter 1. Introduction
National identity is often understood to be composed of a combination of essential and
imagined qualities. It is both an inherited and a deliberately chosen process of identification
that undergoes significant changes in one lifetime. In the millennium of hyper-globalization and
the steady dissolve of state power and borders, nationhood and national identities are
acquiring a new kind of fluidity that has shifted the understanding of national identity from the
traditional essential model. This process has resulted in the constitution of hybrid national
identities that encompass aspects of a global imagined community with highly permeable
internal borders between different cultures and nations. However, these changes are not as
seamless nor as inclusive as they at first appear to be, and greatly impact the ways nationalism
is conceived of in many societies today.
This thesis paper will focus on the space and discourses in which Palestinian national
identity in the diaspora today is formed, what influences its development, and how it becomes
a definitive and significant identity. The purpose of this research is to provide a clearer
understanding of what being Palestinian today means, as Palestinian nationalism remains a
controversial question under the scrutiny of global society. Furthermore, it is the goal of this
study to provide a framework and launch pad for further research into the identities of various
fragments of Palestinian communities in the world in order to provide evidence for the
importance of the Right of Return and the need for repatriation of Palestinians worldwide.
Due to the severe fragmentation and dispersal of the Palestinian community since the
Arab-Israeli war of 1948 and the continued conflict that has prevented Palestinians from
achieving statehood, Palestinian identity in the diaspora subsists in a unique space where it is
2
contained and shaped by the forces of displacement, statelessness, and invisibility. By looking
at the Palestinian community in Canada, this study will begin to interrogate the parameters of
this space in which Palestinian identity is formed, in order to
• locate instances of plurality and/or hybridity in the Palestinian identity in the
diaspora,
• understand how these instances arise, and what factors influence self
identification within the Palestinian collective identity, and thus to
• better understand how and why a distinct and prominent "Palestinian" national
identity still exists within communities that are "stateless" - without a nation or
"home".
Furthermore, this study will engage with the existing scholarship on the subjects of identity,
nationalism, memory, diaspora, and citizenship and performance in order to provide a more
meaningful understanding of the Palestinian condition.
Method
The methodology of this study was based on qualitative analysis of phenomenological
interviewing of five Palestinian young adults, where participants were asked the question "How
do you respond when someone asks where you're from?" and largely allowed to direct the
conversation following. The interviews included questions on inherited nationalities,
citizenship, memories, and utilized symbols and images of Palestinian culture to generate
discussion. In addition, bilingual interviewing allowed participants the choice and opportunity
to respond in Arabic, thus providing insight into what parts of their identity they feel are rooted
in their native language - what parts they feel they need to express in Arabic - and how they
perform their identity through their language. Purposive sampling was used, where the ideal
participants were considered to be of Palestinian descent who would have either personally
carried "stateless" status or have had close family members who did. The participants chosen