A Perspective on the Arab Spring Diaspora: New Diasporic Identities

Abstract

This study highlights a new tendency of the diasporic writing after Arab Spring revolutions. Since the outbreak of the Arab Spring revolutions, many writers in diaspora have been motivated to portray and document a clear, authentic and integral picture of the events and how the revolutions have affected their cultures, identities, and heritage. With special attention to the Syrian case, the uprisings have deteriorated and developed into a sectarian civil war. The consequences of the fractured and unorganized peaceful demonstrations and the intrusion of foreign forces in this war have led to a totally different path that has been taken in other Arab countries. So, many Syrian writers and journalists in exile consider that Arab Spring uprisings in Syria have resulted in a massive loss of human lives and destruction of their cultural and historical heritage. The present study examines Samar Yazbek`s The Crossing (2015) as an example of how Arab writers in diaspora have become transnational political writers who mobilize from outside and inside their countries trying to make a difference. By analyzing the selected novel, this study concludes that new forms of diasporic identities and social mobilizations have emerged among the dispersed Syrians not only outside, but also inside their country: Syria.