Conditional Welcomes: Hospitality and Hostility in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and the Southern Mediterranean Context

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is strongly resonant in the post-Arab Spring realities of the South Mediterranean, reflecting the region’s existential and political struggles. The Bundrens’ arduous journey to bury their mother in Jefferson, defying both river and land, is echoed in the perilous crossings undertaken by many irregular migrants who confront the dangers of the sea. This essay examines the parallels between the Bundrens’ mission and the contemporary “death journeys” across the South Mediterranean, as depicted in Harga (2022). Drawing on Hospitality Theory, it argues that, much like the Bundrens in Jefferson, migrants frequently encounter cultural and social exclusion upon arrival, mirroring a broader pattern of indifference that shapes communal identity. Yet, even within this exclusion, the possibility of hope emerges at the moment the unwelcomed guest dares to knock on the host’s door.