{"id":12234,"date":"2023-04-12T15:25:34","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T20:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/?p=12234"},"modified":"2026-03-22T16:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T21:05:10","slug":"tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracing survivance in transnational fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Yasmine<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yasmine Lamloum, ’22 PhD in Literature and Cultural Theory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Update<\/strong>: Yasmine is a lecturer in 51ÁÔÆæ’s English Language Academy working with international students and students who are not native English speakers.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999, the Anishinaabe writer and critic Gerald Vizenor put forth the concept of survivance, which has been incredibly influential for the understanding of the lives, histories and creative literatures of Native American peoples. Vizenor acknowledges that survivance is related to\u201csurvival,\u201d but it also means more than that, as the term is imbued with empowering andagential traits. In other words, survivance is a portmanteau for survival and active resistance against genocidal violence and the assimilation of Native Americans. Despite the widespread use of this term for interpreting Native American Literature, survivance has not been used so much for comprehending other world literature, and thus in my work I want to explore the value and the relevance of this concept to understanding other literatures, specifically contemporary transnational fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I examine survivance in refugee novels, as well as post-colonial and historical narratives.The texts I look at are from countries such as Pakistan, Morocco, and Lebanon where their protagonists share experiences of dislocation, resettlement, and hope. For example, I apply survivance to novels such as Exit West by British-Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid and Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Moroccan novelist Laila Lalami. Using survivance as an analytic tool in transnational literature proves valuable for articulating how scholars, writers, and artists from different regions counteract and redress the consequences of structural violence and the destruction of their economy and habitat. Enriched by questions about gendering and power, the concept of survivance foils the construction of the marginalized \u201cother\u201d as a victim by dominant discourses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1999, the Anishinaabe writer and critic Gerald Vizenor put forth the concept of survivance, which has been incredibly influential for the understanding of the lives, histories and creative literatures of Native American peoples. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1272,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[175],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-graduate-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nEnglish<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tracing survivance in transnational fiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1999, the Anishinaabe writer and critic Gerald Vizenor put forth the concept of survivance, which has been incredibly influential for the understanding of the lives, histories and creative literatures of Native American peoples.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-12T20:25:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-22T21:05:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2022\/03\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1060\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Tracing survivance in transnational fiction\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-12T20:25:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-22T21:05:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":288,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/109\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Graduate Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tracing survivance in transnational fiction - English\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/109\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-12T20:25:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-22T21:05:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/109\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/109\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg\",\"width\":1060,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"Yasmine Lamioum portrait\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tracing survivance in transnational fiction\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"English\",\"description\":\"UW-Milwaukee\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"English","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tracing survivance in transnational fiction","og_description":"In 1999, the Anishinaabe writer and critic Gerald Vizenor put forth the concept of survivance, which has been incredibly influential for the understanding of the lives, histories and creative literatures of Native American peoples.","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/","og_site_name":"English","article_published_time":"2023-04-12T20:25:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-22T21:05:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1060,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2022\/03\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Tracing survivance in transnational fiction","datePublished":"2023-04-12T20:25:34+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-22T21:05:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/"},"wordCount":288,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2022\/03\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg","articleSection":["Graduate Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/","name":"Tracing survivance in transnational fiction - English","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2022\/03\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg","datePublished":"2023-04-12T20:25:34+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-22T21:05:10+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2022\/03\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2022\/03\/20200316_CLS_EH_0001_resized-e1683302383242.jpg","width":1060,"height":450,"caption":"Yasmine Lamioum portrait"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/tracing-survivance-in-transnational-fiction\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tracing survivance in transnational fiction"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/","name":"English","description":"UW-Milwaukee","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"acf":[],"meta_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1766006387:19040"],"_edit_last":["19040"],"feat_img_video":[""],"feat_img_caption":["feat-img-caption-on"],"otp_nav_display":["otp-on-mobile"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["175"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["2"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"feat_img_gallery":[""],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1774213511"],"breadcrumbs_display":["breadcrumbs-on"],"post_layout":["post-layout-theme"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":[""],"_uwm_wg_content_review_log":["a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:11:\"reviewer_id\";i:0;s:6:\"status\";s:5:\"reset\";s:10:\"entry_date\";s:19:\"2026-03-01 02:09:22\";s:16:\"priority_content\";s:0:\"\";s:4:\"note\";s:43:\"Content review reset at start of new cycle.\";}}"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12234"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14584,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12234\/revisions\/14584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}