The Body and the Migrating Subject in the Gulf : Daqq al-ṭabūl by Muḥammad al-Bisāṭī

This chapter deals with migration to the Gulf by examining Daqq al-ṭabūl (Drumbeat, 2006) by the Egyptian Muḥammad al-Bisāṭī, as a contemporary novel that shapes the migrant's identity in the Gulf with a mixture of realism and fantasy. The native population of a nameless Emirate is sent to France when the national football team qualifies for the World Cup, leaving the country in the hands of labour migrants. Through close textual analysis, this contribution explores the novel's thematic and narrative strategies, focusing on the relationship between peers (in this case migrants and outsiders) in a transnational context, and the impact of displacement on the body and gender relations. Finally, storytelling emerges as a tool for both self-discovery and survival.