Abstract:
The thesis explores the impact of pursuing diaspora and its narrative spaces
on the character identities of Beth and Okot in Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson's play
The Jungle (2017), and the identities of Asha and Ahmad in Clare Bayley's The
Container (2007), showcasing the relationship between the narrative spaces and the
pursuit with their evolving identity. The work enriches the current understanding of
diaspora criticism by constructing an analysis in consideration to the evolving
criticism, by exploring a fragment of a diaspora journey, in regards to its impact on
the characters’ identities. Furthermore, through employing contemporary diaspora
criticism, the study emphasizes the direct impact of the third time-space and
modernity on the characters’ identities, through their pursuit to become the ideal
diaspora. The characters' identities are analysed according to their changing feelings
of home and belonging by using narrative techniques such as dialogue and memory
when exploring their initial identities, and by focusing on the space as narrative
space and also as third time space during their journey. The final identity is analysed
according to a comparison between their initial identities and their hybrid ones, in
regards to the characters’ sense of home and belonging. The thesis concludes by
observing the four characters, as they navigate their newly formed sense of self in an
interrupted diaspora journey
