From Logic of Survival to Logic of Negotiation: Generational Shifts in Diasporic Identity in Faqir's My Name is Salma and Darraj's The Inheritance of Exile

This paper offers a comparative analysis of Faqir’s My Name is Salma (2007) and Darraj’s The Inheritance of Exile (2007), arguing these two contemporaneous novels represent distinct, generationally-defined modes of narrative production within Arab Anglophone literature. Beyond a thematic comparison, this study develops a novel analytical framework distinguishing between a “logic of survival” and a “logic of negotiation.” Drawing on Caruth’s trauma theory, the paper contends that Faqir’s novel exemplifies a logic of survival, where the narrative is structured by trauma as an “unclaimed experience,” forcing the first-generation exile into a solitary re-inscription of the self against life-threatening patriarchy. Conversely, applying Bhabha’s concept of the “Third Space,” the analysis treats Darraj’s collection as a prime example of a logic of negotiation. The narrative focus shifts to the second generation, whose identities are forged relationally and communally within the liminal, negotiated spaces of Arab-American life. This paper demonstrates how Faqir’s text chronicles the inscription of trauma upon the body and psyche, while Darraj’s maps the complex cultural semiotics of belonging. Ultimately, the framework offers a valuable heuristic for understanding the evolution of diasporic narrative, moving from addressing the initial rupture of displacement to charting the chronic condition of inherited cultural hybridity.