Scholars International Journal of Linguistics and Literature (SIJLL)
Volume-9 | Issue-08 | 161-170
Review Article
Migration, Social Representation, and Hostland Politics: A Study of Leila Aboulela’s The Translator
Nanga Lydia Kaboh Nyambi
Published : Aug. 19, 2026
Abstract
This article examines Leila Aboulela's The Translator through the analytical lens of Serge Moscovici's Social Representation Theory, exploring how the novel portrays the experiences of a Sudanese Muslim woman negotiating the hostland politics of contemporary Scotland. Drawing on close textual analysis, the article argues that racial discrimination, Islamophobia, identity crisis, destitution, frustration, and social alienation experienced by the protagonist, Sammar, are not merely individual psychological conditions but manifestations of hegemonic social representations through which the Scottish host society denies the African Muslim migrant full humanity, dignity, and equal rights. The study further demonstrates how Sammar develops emancipated and polemical counter-representations of herself through her Islamic faith, spiritual self-realisation, and a gradual re-evaluation of homeland, thereby affirming her inherent human dignity in the face of dehumanising social constructions. By relating the novel's literary representations to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the article argues that The Translator functions as a sustained literary critique of the hegemonic representations underpinning contemporary Western host societies while asserting the humanity, agency, and rights of the African Muslim migrant.