Displacement and Homlessness in Hala Alyan’s Novel Salt Houses

Abstract

Through a literary analysis approach, this study investigates the themes of dislocation and displacement in Hala Alyan's novel, Salt Houses. The multi-generational saga of the Palestinian family cast into exile due to war, occupation, and political instability forms the backstory of Salt Houses. The study aims to explore different narratives of dislocation from the perspective of Alyan, i.e., the professional and emotional experiences of individuals, bearing in mind the psychology of forced migration creating the conflict between identity for the people in foreign lands. Close textual analysis investigates home fluidity, a broken sense of belonging, and the way characters navigate between memory and adaptation. Engaging with theories of exile and diaspora and trauma, the paper situates Salt Houses within a broader discourse of contemporary refugee literature, making the case for the novel's ability to appreciate the human cost of dislocation. This research holds that the novel reconceptualizes home as an ever-shifting construct created through loss, nostalgia, memory, and the restless pursuit of security.