Transformations of Gender Identities and Roles in Novels of Flight and Exile by Olga Grjasnowa and Shida Bazyar

Abstract

Over the last several years, cultural studies scholars in Germany have closely examined the subject of refugees in recent German literature, focusing largely on aspects of spatial theory, the causes of migration and the figure of the refugee. However, while the migrant as cultural Other has received extensive attention, gender issues remain largely underrepresented. This contribution explores the ways in which forced migration, due mostly to war and violence, affects the gender identities and roles of characters in the novels of Olga Grjasnowa (Gott ist nicht schüchtern) and Shida Bazyar (Nachts ist es leise in Teheran).