Margins That Haunt
Silence, Delusion, and Gendered Exclusion in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Gravel Heart and Paradise
Keywords:
Gurnah, Silence, Margin, Postcolonial, Exclusion, EmasculationAbstract
This article examines how Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Gravel Heart and Paradise depict silence as both a symptom and a structure of exclusion. By focusing on marginalised figures, namely Masud and the Mistress, it analyses how gendered, political, and narrative silences function in the novels. Drawing on Spivak’s notion of subalternity and the centre-periphery dynamics advanced by Hauthal and Toivanen (2021), this article attests to how Gurnah embeds marginality in the structure of his novels. Masud and the Mistress are not only excluded by society but also by the novels themselves. They are discussed, refracted through others, and allowed to speak only when it is too late or through a distorted translation by another character. By placing these silenced characters at the emotional centre, yet structural margin of his narratives, Gurnah exposes how exclusion is not merely represented in postcolonial fiction but also enacted.
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