Challenging Stereotypes

This study investigates Fadia Faqir’s Willow Trees Don’t Weep, with a particular focus on the processes influencing the formation of the cultural identity of the female Arab protagonist in relation to her condition as a displaced immigrant. Drawing upon cosmopolitanism as a concept relevant to marginalised groups in the diaspora, the analysis of Faqir’s text shows that the novel’s protagonist, Najwa, is exposed to various forms of gendered, cultural, social, ideological, religious, and political stereotyping-constructed prejudices across different locations. These prejudices push her into a rootless existence, leading to a state of alienation and unbelonging. The textual analysis also indicates that Najwa, in response, develops a fluid identity and a cosmopolitan subjectivity as a unique means of acquiring agency amidst several disempowering counter-cosmopolitan forces.