The Pitfalls of Hybridity as Represented in Yussef EL Guindi's Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith

Abstract:-
How are the identities of the second generation immigrants formed? This is the central question of the present paper as it seeks to explore the effects of immigration on the identity of the second generation immigrants through tackling Homi K. Bhabha's cultural hybrid theory. Undoubtedly, identity is observed when compared to its impact on a different culture. Bhabha's theory of cultural hybridity is the most relevant to El Guindi's play Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith (2005) which describes cultural hybridization of the Eastern Egyptian culture and the Western American culture. El Guindi's play displays the social structure and the cultural values in relation to the cultural hybrid identities. The cultural hybridity is the outcome of overlapping cultural differences; a matter that creates confused and ambivalent characters. These hybrid characters present a conflict to themselves, their families and the host country throughout their behaviors. The researcher utilizes mainly Bhabha's psychoanalytic concepts of hybridity; ambivalence, mimicry and uncanny. These concepts appear clearly in our globalized cultural differences and cultural interaction.