Religious and Cultural Identity Loss in Postcolonial Contexts: Reading Paradise and Bird Summons

This study explores how Leila Aboulela's Bird Summons (2019) and Abdulrazak Gurnah's Paradise (1994) depict the loss of religious and cultural identities. By using Deconstruction theory, this study exposes the conflicts between essentialised religious and cultural identities and the fluid, hybrid realities of the characters' lives, shattering the binary oppositions that support the stories (Derrida 42). This study reveals the power dynamics that influence identity building and draws attention to the instabilities and contradictions present in the narratives by examining how the texts depict the loss of conventional identities (Spivak 66). Additionally, this study shows how the writers reclaim marginalised identities and challenge prevailing discourses through the use of narrative strategies (Bhabha 209). Finally, this study shows how these works' depictions of loss act as a trigger for reassessing and rebuilding religious and cultural identities.