Unhomeliness and Escapism in Meg Vandermerwe's Zebra Crossing

Abstract This paper examines the interplay and impact of unhomeliness and escapism on the physical and psychological lives of postcolonial subjects in Meg Vandermerwe's Zebra Crossing. Drawing on the postcolonial and psychoanalytic theories of Homi Bhabha and Sigmund Freud, the paper finds that the feeling of unhomeliness stems not only from places of ex-territorial and cross-cultural initiations but also from the stigma and marginalization associated with existing genetic conditions, such as albinism. It also finds that the character victims often deploy escapism as a coping strategy, but it only provides temporary relief as the character victims still see themselves as the rejects of society. The paper argues that the reconstruction and reconstitution of the discourse of cultural, racial, or ethnic difference in postcolonial settings cannot be complete until the genetically, physically, or mentally challenged individuals are given a sense of belonging in the domains of psychic and social identifications. It concludes by calling for reevaluation and re-articulation of some African cultural beliefs that create the sense of otherness as this will help provide the real escape route for the postcolonial malaise of unhomeliness within Africa’s socio-cultural space.