Anam, Nasia “The Migrant as Colonist: Dystopia and Apocalypse in the Literature of Mass Migration,” Published by Johns Hopkins University, Press ASAP/Journal, Volume 3, Number 3, September 2018, pp. 653-677 (Article)
“Apocalyptic motifs similarly appear in a recent spate of speculative fictions that imagine the decimation of the Western, democratic, capitalist, “civilized” world in the wake of mass migration into Europe, North America, or indeed any nation-state deemed more stable than that from which people emigrate en masse” (Anam). The mass migration of those of Islamic nationality has nativist Europeans concerned that western culture will die out in Europe, overrun by middle eastern migrants. They essentially fear being colonized by the middle east.
Anam starts by hooking the reader into her article, explaining how there is genuine fear surrounding the issues of immigration into Europe, and because of that, you (the reader) should care. She then uses the first page of her article to set the scene of what she will be discussing. She defines apocalypse as a term used by nativists to describe what will happen if too many Islamic migrants are to let into Europe (654).
This use of exposition provides the context necessary for Anam to begin providing evidence, starting with “DOLORES HERRERO,” an Australian speculative fiction similar to Exit West by Mosin Hamid. She explains the theory surrounding how the fear of cultural shift due to natural disaster and political turmoil leads nativists to fear similar problems coming to Europe. The “apocalyptic narrative” described by Europeans involves war, disease economic downturn, and a lack of law and order. She then ties Exit West back to this concept, claiming that the novel directly references the modern-day European nativists who believe immigrants will only bring disaster to the west. Anam argues that there is truth in Hamid’s speculations to the meshing of immigrants in the west by showing the flaws in the nativists own apocalyptic speculations (654-656).
Anam ties back to her thesis when she provides the historical context as to how the Xenophobia in the west began. She goes all the way back to the crusades when it was the middle eastern nations who were dominant over Europe, in possession of the cutting-edge knowledge of the day. She explains western civilization began with the migration of Europeans, to the middle east. By reversing the argument, the reader can put the pieces together that it’s not a matter of which nation is more superior, but instead, which nation holds the most current knowledge and technology. Then claims that the migration of Europeans to Islamic was disconnected from the religious purposes the journey was based around countering the belief that moder day migrants will take away from the current western culture. She then brings up the religious aspect of this debate claiming that many of the imperialism sponsored by Europe was justified by missionary work, but instead, became a way to support the mother European countries. She ties this back to the modern issue claiming migrants wish to help themselves rather than take over the culture of Europe (656-662). Alam focuses the rest of her article towards the modern-day issues of middle eastern migration to Europe. She claims that the majority of the violence comes from the nativists themselves out of fear and not the migrants. She claims the issues of the lack of space in Europe due to overwhelming amounts of migrants far less of a problem then what is being left behind. Her writing indirectly pushes the reader to realize that compassion towards migrants entering European countries will reduce the fear associated with immigration, and thus decrease violence. She concludes her article by claiming that despite previous western ideals surrounding the lack of support for immigration, the world would be better off as a whole with welcoming European nation’s expectance of migrants helping western society, whilst leaving behind the dangers from which they came.
Good job with a complex article, especially when you address the section of the historical origins of European fears about an Islamic takeover, which date back to the Crusades. You don’t quite nab her thesis, though, which is less about how contemporary European novels about mass migration reflect those fears in apocalyptic narratives. Her article traces the historical origins and development of the West vs. East divide, shows how it manifests in recent French novels and then in recent English novels. At the end she addresses Exit West and one other novel as EXCEPTIONS to the rule because they don’t portray global migration as an apocalypse.
P.S. Don’t forget to list 3 writing moves you might want to try in your own essays.