Siirtolaiset ryhmien välissä: Etninen stereotypisointi, rasismi, queeriys ja kulttuurinen identiteetti Pajtim Statovcin romaaneissa Kissani Jugoslavia ja Tiranan sydän

Translated title of the contribution: Migrants Between Groups. Ethnic Stereotyping, Racism, Queerness and Cultural Identity in My Cat Yugoslavia and Crossing by Pajtim Statovci

Research output: Book/ReportDoctoral thesisMonograph

Abstract

In my monograph dissertation, I examine Pajtim Statovci's first two novels, My Cat Yugoslavia (2014) and Crossing (2016). My main question is how the target texts explore the themes of ethnic stereotyping, racism, queerness and cultural identity through characters and narrators related to migration. These themes are placed in the target texts under the broader theme of othering and play a central role. Therefore, it is important to examine them in terms of the interpretation of the works. Ethnic stereotyping, racism, queerness and cultural identity are current and significant issues from the perspective of both the individual and society, in fiction and outside of it. Statovci is a well-known and awarded writer in Finland and abroad, who has dealt with being a migrant in a multidimensional way.

I approach ethnic stereotyping by examining the stereotypes formed by narrators and other characters. I ask how the target works, especially Crossing, present the process of ethnic stereotyping. What kind of stereotypes do the narrators form about ethnic majorities and why? How are they connected to the othering they face, and what does it mean to the interpretation of the works? I also study how othering is thematized through the fact that the narrators of the target texts can be read leaning on the character types of the abject hero and the stranger. In connection with ethnic stereotyping, the subject of my research is also how Statovci's narrators and works utilize group-based and stereotyping thinking.

Regarding the depictions of racism, I ask what kind of thematic features they have in Statovci's first two novels. What forms of racism do they present and how? How do My Cat Yugoslavia and Crossing present the mechanisms of racism through the interaction of the characters? I bring up the perspective of how the representations of racism in the target works are connected to social discourses on migration. I also investigate the role of using an unreliable narrator in presenting racism.

I examine the narrators' divergence from the norms regarding gender and sexuality in relation to their cultural identity or belonging. I itemize how the narrator of Crossing and Bekim in My Cat Yugoslavia are othered in their own ethnic group because of their queerness. What kind of notions of gender roles do the target texts link to Albanian culture? I discuss how these notions and the heteronormativity of the presented Albanian culture affect the attitude of the narrators towards their Albanianness. I also analyse how the narrator of Crossing comprehends their own gender and gender in general. I suggest interpretations about the changing cultural identity of the narrators of My Cat Yugoslavia and the expression of this shift is through symbolic animal characters.

The primary approach of my research is thematic. I read the target works based on their themes as migration literature. As theoretical frameworks I use study of stereotypes, study of racism, postcolonial theory, study of ethnicity and cultural identity, gender studies, queer theory and study of emotions. I also utilize the concepts of the abject hero and the stranger, which are character types and can be considered part of character study, and the concept of unreliable narrator, which belongs to narrative theory. My aim is to advance the thematic research of migration literature by investigating Statovci's first two novels from the chosen perspectives.

My target texts deal with ethnic stereotyping and racism from the perspective of migrants. Motivated by their negative feelings arising from the impact of othering, the narrators and other characters form stereotypes about the ethnic majorities of their new homeland or countries of residence. However, they also stereotype their own ethnic group, which they have a negative attitude to, largely because they are also othered in the communities that represent it to them. Through characters who diverges from the norms of their cultural community regarding gender and sexuality, the target works thematize the relationship between the community and the individual who is considered inappropriate in it. Crossing presents the process of ethnic stereotyping in a versatile way and through it also thematizes stereotyping more broadly. The target texts question group-based thinking and the simplistic juxtapositions it produces, but to some extent they must repeat these ways of thinking and juxtapositions to criticize them.

The attachment of the narrator of Crossing to the character types of the abject hero and the stranger is linked to the theme of othering. Crossing sets the character type of the abject hero, who is also a wanderer, into the new context of increased globalization. The features of a stranger can also be found in the narrators of My Cat Yugoslavia. One key feature of the representations of racism in the target texts is the description of the migrants' reactions to racism. Statovci presents racism as an interactive phenomenon, which, however, involves a power relationship between ethnic majorities and migrants. Statovci's novels build multidimensional characters and avoid depicting migrants as mere victims and one-dimensional characters by presenting their negative feelings and attitudes towards ethnic majorities and also Albanians.
Translated title of the contributionMigrants Between Groups. Ethnic Stereotyping, Racism, Queerness and Cultural Identity in My Cat Yugoslavia and Crossing by Pajtim Statovci
Original languageFinnish
Place of PublicationTampere
PublisherTampere University
ISBN (Electronic)978-952-03-3957-9
ISBN (Print)978-952-03-3956-2
Publication statusPublished - 2025
Publication typeG4 Doctoral dissertation (monograph)

Publication series

NameTampere University Dissertations - Tampereen yliopiston väitöskirjat
Volume1250
ISSN (Print)2489-9860
ISSN (Electronic)2490-0028

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