Re-mapping the Postcolonial Heritage of Exile in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Admiring Silence

Abstract

Being exiled entails significant dichotomy as best communicated by Edward Said (2000) in his Reflections on Exile “[exile is] strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience” (173). This dichotomy between appealing and terrifying lies at the heart of Abdulrazak Gurnah’s narrative of exile and return entitled Admiring Silence (1996). The possibility of reconciling this dichotomy necessitates an examination of the current postcolonial condition and its impact on exile/return. Thus, the fundamental premise of this essay is to interrogate the current state of postcolonialism between narratives of resistance, “writing back”, anger, dichotomies, and narratives of defeat. This uncertain position generates two exilic conditions: an exile, which promises return and emancipation in opposition to a futile exile which generates no possibility of return. A reading of Admiring Silence reveals the current state of the postcolonial condition through questioning the significance of the protagonist’s journey between Zanzibar and England.