Intercultural Dialogue, Diaspora, and the Divided Self in Nasrallah's Canadian Fiction (2004)

Abstract

This article looks at the second part of Dimitri Nasrallah's novel Blackbodying (2004), which takes the form of an embedded novella, “Canadian Fiction.” This novella explores how an immigrant's traumatic diasporic experience silences intercultural dialogue in an inhospitable Toronto. Drawing on the conceptual framework of internalization, this study first examines the stigmatizing condition of the immigrant in exile, which projects a whimsical obsession with Heidi, a fictional woman, as a nostalgic object of desire. Second, the novella underpins the loss of real-life dialogue that disfigures Sameer's genuine pursuit of social integration. This study, therefore, argues that the loss of the ideal not only traps immigrants in a never-ending chase but also threatens their very capacity to recreate third space realities. Third, the study negates the often-romanticized meta-narrative of successful immigrants living in welcoming cities.