National politics can completely determine a diaspora family’s trajectory

Evidence

In the circus ride that is Lina’s life, Iraqi politics has always trailed closely behind and occasionally overtakes it. Not only did she move to Iraq under sanctions, but Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait determined her own family’s peregrinations. The two men, both Iraqi, who would later define much of her life came from families that represented completely opposite sides of the Iraqi political spectrum, one affiliated with Saddam’s regime, the other with the opposition, while Lina floated somewhere in an apolitical middle until she eventually figured out who and what she had to be. In the end Lina’s story is about how the personal is political, and it’s about how politics can get very personal, too. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 590

Categorization

• FICTION: The thesis — ‘politics can get very personal’ — is a useful generator for character-driven diaspora fiction where national events steer intimate choices and relationships.