Author is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English,
鈥淗ow to exist and not to belong?鈥� asks the unnamed protagonist and narrator聽聽second novel,聽Cockroach.
The , an acclaimed Lebanese Canadian writer and photographer based in Montr茅al, Qu茅bec, explores issues of immigration, assimilation, belonging and identity in the early post-9/11 world. The story unfolds through the eyes of an impoverished and psychologically disturbed Arab migrant in Montr茅al.
The unnamed protagonist becomes increasingly convinced he is half human, half insect, as he struggles to cope with the traumatic realities of his life in Canada 鈥� and the violent memories of his war-torn past in an unidentified Middle Eastern country.
Cockroach generated significant discussion in Canada after winning an award from the Quebec Writers鈥� Federation and being shortlisted for other book prizes, and .
For some readers, the central conceit of Hage鈥檚 Cockroach immediately invites comparison to Kafka鈥檚 modern classic The Metamorphosis, in which a man named Gregor Samsa is suddenly (and inexplicably) transformed into a bug.
Whereas Samsa famously , the insect evolution of Hage鈥檚 narrator-protagonist occurs as a slower, more deteriorative process. The transformation is entwined with the narrator鈥檚 material and moral circumstances.
Surreal and mundane
Hage鈥檚 most recently published debut short story collection, Stray Dogs: And Other Stories (2022), was . His earlier novels include De Niro鈥檚 Game (2006), Carnival (2012) and Beirut Hellfire Society (2018).
The author鈥檚 lyrical and philosophical style, penchant for the absurd and unflinching exploration of disruptions engendered by war, capitalism, globalization and neoliberalism has earned him a prominent place in the literary world, with works translated into 30 languages.
Hage鈥檚 writing frequently blends the surreal with the mundane to examine the effects of violence and displacement on people and their identities. His fiction often revolves around the lives of socially and economically marginalized or , as explored by literary critic Gayatri Spivak, forced to make difficult decisions to survive the dehumanizing conditions of war, poverty, violence and subordination.
Question of belonging
Like Kafka, Hage is a writer of the abject, the exiled and the outsider. Multiple readers and scholars have also observed the blend of eastern and western literary influences in Hage鈥檚 work, from Homer to Dostoevsky to .
Hage lived through nine years of the during the 1970s and 1980s before immigrating to Canada in 1992.
When he accepted the prestigious IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his debut novel De Niro鈥檚 Game, which is set against the backdrop of the Lebanese Civil War, Hage spoke about :
鈥淏orn as a Christian Arab, a group whose existence is an integral part of a great Arabic and Islamic civilization, I grew up learning two languages and different histories, and at the age of 18 learned the English language and imbibed the canon of its great poets and writers. Later, as a traveler, a citizen, a worker, a reader, and a writer, I was, fortunately, bound to become a global citizen.鈥�
In a 2011 interview with literature scholar Rita Sakr, Hage characterized his writing as 鈥�.鈥�
Metamorphosis borne from necessity
In Hage鈥檚 Cockroach, as Canadian literatures scholar Kit Dobson observes, the narrator鈥檚 鈥溾��; his metamorphosis is borne from necessity.
These 鈥渜uestionable acts,鈥� whether sexual, social, moral or economic, are motivated by the narrator鈥檚 conflicting desire for belonging and escape from the normative bounds of law and society, as well as his unmet needs :
鈥淢y welfare cheque was ten days away. I was out of dope. My kitchen had only rice and leftovers and crawling insects that would outlive me on Doomsday.鈥�
In his cockroach form, he is able to enact the strategies necessary for his survival, while also appearing to embody and act out the fears and fantasies of the popular Western imagination of
Systems, conditions that degrade existence
Cockroach鈥檚 protagonist is not, however, an easily sympathetic character. He engages in a variety of illegal and illicit acts, including theft, sexual voyeurism and worse. The protagonist鈥檚 behaviour towards women also invokes a harmful stereotype of male chauvinism and danger often associated with Middle Eastern men in orientalist and post-9/11 western .
In the protagonist鈥檚 relationship with his court-mandated therapist, a white Qu茅b茅cois woman who represents the state in literal and figurative ways, he behaves in chauvinistic and, indeed, criminal ways 鈥� at one point, breaking into her home.
Through the protagonist鈥檚 relationship with her, the novel is at its problematic and brilliant best. The story challenges dominant narratives of hospitable Canadian multiculturalism while interrogating unequal power relations and the forces of globalization that create divisions of 鈥渦s鈥� and 鈥渢hem.鈥�
Like the man-bug of The Metamorphosis, the insect of Cockroach becomes an allegory for the narrator鈥檚 alienation, a manifestation of his desire for mobility and freedom.
鈥楢tmosphere of oppression鈥�
Despite what some readers see as parallels between The Metamorphosis and Cockroach, in an , about Cockroach, Hage said 鈥淸Kafka鈥檚] not an influence at all.鈥� Hage pointed out 鈥淜afka doesn鈥檛 and can鈥檛 have a monopoly on acts of metamorphosis鈥� but said, 鈥淚 suppose there is the same atmosphere of oppression 鈥� that鈥檚 probably more Kafka-like than the specifics of someone turning into an insect.鈥�
Indeed, the book can be read through tradition concerned with oppression and alienation that includes antecedents such as Ralph Ellison鈥檚 , Albert Camus鈥檚 , Dostoyevsky鈥檚 , and Kafka.
At the same time, Hage鈥檚 point about Kafka not owning metamorphosis is also in keeping with the provocative, spirit of his novel and its thieving protagonist. Acts of metamorphosis not only surely exceed Kafka canon, but also through post-colonial literary theory .
Through the underground
Cockroach reminds us of the injustices and fractures people face due to systems designed to perpetuate displacement, unequal access and widening global divisions of labour and wealth.
But it is also a reminder of the limitations of sympathy as a measure of need, the fundamental rights of those who don鈥檛 readily inspire a dominant society鈥檚 compassion and the radical choices many people face in a struggle for survival and belonging.
As Hage writes: 鈥淥ther humans gaze at the sky, but I say to you, the only way through the world is to pass through the underground.鈥�
This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . This article is also part of The Conversation's series marking 100 years since the death of writer Franz Kafka. These articles explore his legacy and influence on everything from cinema to law. To read more, click .