The Concepts of Home and Statelessness in Palestinian Diaspora Fiction: Reflections in Randa Jarrar’s A Map of Home

The present paper examines the conceptualisation of home and statelessness in Palestinian diasporic narratives. Though the term ‘Palestinian diaspora’ is frequently debated and preference is given to terms such as ‘exile’ and ‘refugee’, the paper aims to reflect upon the correlation between ‘historic Palestine’ and the new conceptions of home that continue to evolve in contemporary Palestinian diaspora fiction. New generations of Palestinian exiles and diasporas find it difficult to imagine ‘historic Palestine’ as none have been physically there. Their sense of home/Palestine grows only as a collective narrative passed from one generation to the next. Thus, the paper attempts to reveal what home means to such a category with reference to Randa Jarrar’s novel A Map of Home. The paper also discusses the locations and dislocations of Palestinians and their journeys across borders