Identities on the Move
Series:
Edited By Flocel Sabaté
“In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong” by Amin Maalouf; a reflection on the notion of identity: Pere Solà
“In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong” by Amin Maalouf; a reflection on the notion of identity
Extract
Pere SOLÀ
Universitat de Lleida
According to the jury that awarded the 2010 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters, Amin Maalouf was the author of a work that
[…] has lucidly addressed the complexity of the human condition […] from the viewpoint of historical fiction, providing a theoretical reflection. Using intense and suggestive language, Maalouf places us in the midst of the great Mediterranean mosaic of languages, cultures and religions, constructing a symbolic space for encounters and understanding. Against such feelings as hopelessness, resignation and victimisation, his work marks out its own path towards tolerance and reconciliation, providing a bridge that is built upon the common roots of different peoples and cultures.1
In his book Origins: a Memoir, which was published in 2004,2 the author claims that he belongs to:
A clan that has been nomadic from time immemorial in a desert as wide as the world. Our countries are oases that we leave when the spring goes dry; our houses are tents clad in stone, our nationalities a matter of dates and ships. The only thing connecting us to one another, beyond the generations, the seas, and the Babel of Languages, is the soft sound of a name.
Is a family name a homeland? Yes, that’s the way it is. And instead of religious faith, an old-fashioned faithfulness.
I’ve never had a true religious affiliation. If anything, I’ve had several incompatible ones. Nor have I ever...
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