Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives

Lina Alzouabi; Abdul Serdar Öztürk

Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives

Abstract

The article explores the concept of resilience in modern refugee discourses with the prospect of understanding the role of genre in the construction of memory and survival. It applies a comparative reading of The Girl Who Smiled Beads and The Beekeeper of Aleppo to argue that resilience is not a neutral process of recovery, but a construction of literary form. A great deal of scholarship on resilience presupposes a movement toward recovery; this paper demonstrates that when memoir and fiction are placed into dialogue, the presumptions become considerably different. Memory in the memoir of Wamariya seems to be fragmented, intrusive and ethically demanding. It is not restoration that is achieved after survival but rather characterized by contradiction and unresolved loss. However, in Lefteri's novel, the traumatic memory is systematized by symbols and orderly narratives, and the suffering becomes logically clear and emotionally understandable. In this case, aesthetic design will define resilience, which enables symbolic restoration and a more defined sense of progress. Comparing testimonial memoir to humanitarian fiction, the article illustrates that genre plays a role in the understanding of suffering and endurance interpretation. Resilience thus becomes not some universal psychological feature, but one which is constructed through narrative authority, memory structure and ethics of representation.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Lina Alzouabi ^*
0000-0001-8626-6069
Türkiye

Abdul Serdar Öztürk
0000-0002-4927-9298
Türkiye

Early Pub Date

April 24, 2026

Publication Date

-

Submission Date

February 17, 2026

Acceptance Date

April 15, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Number: Advanced Online Publication

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA55UN97FJ

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Alzouabi, L., & Öztürk, A. S. (2026). Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature, Advanced Online Publication. https://izlik.org/JA55UN97FJ

AMA

1.Alzouabi L, Öztürk AS. Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives. EJELL. 2026;(Advanced Online Publication). https://izlik.org/JA55UN97FJ

Chicago

Alzouabi, Lina, and Abdul Serdar Öztürk. 2026. “Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives”. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature, no. Advanced Online Publication. https://izlik.org/JA55UN97FJ.

EndNote

Alzouabi L, Öztürk AS (April 1, 2026) Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature Advanced Online Publication

IEEE

[1]L. Alzouabi and A. S. Öztürk, “Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives”, EJELL, no. Advanced Online Publication, Apr. 2026, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA55UN97FJ

ISNAD

Alzouabi, Lina - Öztürk, Abdul Serdar. “Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives”. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature. Advanced Online Publication (April 1, 2026). https://izlik.org/JA55UN97FJ.

JAMA

1.Alzouabi L, Öztürk AS. Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives. EJELL. 2026. Available at https://izlik.org/JA55UN97FJ.

MLA

Alzouabi, Lina, and Abdul Serdar Öztürk. “Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives”. Eurasian Journal of English Language and Literature, no. Advanced Online Publication, Apr. 2026, https://izlik.org/JA55UN97FJ.

Vancouver

1.Lina Alzouabi, Abdul Serdar Öztürk. Genre and the Performance of Resilience: Ethical Memory in Contemporary Refugee Narratives. EJELL [Internet]. 2026 Apr. 1;(Advanced Online Publication). Available from: https://izlik.org/JA55UN97FJ