Ubiety, Belonging and Silence in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Dottie

Abstract

This paper examines refugee identity and the fragile limits of belonging in Dottie by Abdulrazak Gurnah. The novel shows Dottie Badoura Fatma Balfour as a storey that was influenced by the racial marginalisation, cultural anxiety, and seeking of acceptance in England. Although Dottie was born and raised in Britain, she remains positioned as an outsider. Her struggle reveals that belonging is not guaranteed by birth or residence but regulated through race name and social recognition. Refugee and migration studies, this paper argues that Dottie presents ubiety as a contested space. Ubiety here refers to the desire for a lived place of safety, attachment, and recognition. Dottie attempts to construct this space through education, naming, and emotional restraint. However, repeated experiences of racial humiliation and social exclusion prevent stability. Silence becomes a survival strategy. It protects her from open confrontation but deepens psychological isolation. The novel also foregrounds the politics of naming and filiation. Dottie’s anxiety about her name reflects her fear of being without identity and place. Her desire to be accepted exposes the limits of British multicultural belonging. Gurnah portrays refugee consciousness not only among migrants but also among racialised subjects within the nation. Dottie thus expands refugee literature by revealing how unbelonging can exist even without physical displacement. Identity remains unsettled, and belonging remains conditional.