Images of Hope and Despair among Moroccan Diasporic Enclaves Featured in Zakia Khairhoum’s the End of My Dangerous Secret

Abstract

The paper explores predominant themes of diaspora in Zakia Khairoum’s novel, Nihayat Sirri L-Khateer [The End of My Dangerous Secret]. Taking into account that most Moroccan diasporic literary works share the transnational concern about mediating the voices of subalternised and marginalized identities within both the borders of their ancestral home and the contact zones forged abroad, I find Khairhoum’s novel pertaining to the category of Moroccan diasporic literature as it features a dynamic site where different Arab national spheres intersect, playing a crucial part in reproducing and transforming the diasporic subject. The novel revolves around the protagonist, Ghalia, with mobility that is replete with miscellaneous themes, overarched with a tendency to denounce the austere patriachal tradition in the homeland, with no disdain or lack of faith in the tenet of her own culture. The dimensions of mobility and locality map out a course of analysis that focuses on themes of hope and despaire, opening a window of opportunity for investigating forms of cultural encounters that are of paramount importance for understanding the types of constant reproduction and change affecting the concept of diaspora.