Abstract

This thesis examines Marina Lewycka’s earlier novels to show how they represent the intrinsic discourse of the other evident in diasporic groups of East European communities in the UK. It also looks at how Lewycka’s narratives engage and challenge the view of diaspora groups as unified and homogenous entities. As the field of diaspora studies continuously becomes more inclusive, it still overlooks the importance of the inner connections extant within diaspora groups and reduces the linkage of the diasporans to national solidarity and ethnicity. This thesis questions those relationships and proposes a Levinasian reading that demonstrates how, in Lewycka’s novels, groups are formed based on the ethical responsibility of the self to the other. I prove my thesis by researching the novels as follows: firstly analyzing the diasporic representation of alterity and migration, secondly by looking at the possibility of hospitality and responsibility to the newly arrived migrant, and finally I examine how guests and hosts engage with the concept of justice in its cultural and universal understandings in a liminal space. One of the conclusions of this thesis is that an ethical reading of diasporic narratives is not only possible but also needed.