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The ‘Self and Other’ Concepts in Amin Maalouf Book’s Origins
Amin Maalouf has let his Middle Eastern roots become his inspiration for his works. The theme of Migration which occupies the minds of many Middle and Far – Easterners is one of the most reoccurring titles in his creations. In his memoir Origines, the author tells the adventures of three generations which migrate to the West. In this book, hundred and fifty years old letters, photos and various documents belonging to the author’s family are taken by himself to France from Beirut to be written up as memoirs for his ancestry. The timing of the discovery of these documents being after his own finding of his intellectual existence is related to the self conscious awareness to interpret the ‘self’. In the Hegel dialect, the requirement for self awareness to appear is to first negate ‘self’. Similar to Tin’s relationship with the nature, the negation and discovery of self via this method is achieved by the alienation and surpassing of it. In his work, the factor which makes the narrator feel alienated and hinders him from carrying on with his life is his past and roots. The path to find this obstacle is plotted in the scattered letters packed in the ‘suitcase’.The migration to France, which represents the ‘other’, has provided the opportunity to define ‘self’ and evaluate it accordingly. In this article, the ‘migration’ state will be interpreted in the frame of the ‘self and other’ concept, and observed whether this path leads to ‘Master and Slave’.

Anahtar Kelimeler
Amin Maalouf, Origins,immigration, self and other,alienation, master and slave
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