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Afghan Novelist's Istanbul Debut: Love, Exile, and Divided Worlds
29 Jun
Summary
- The novel explores the dual lives of gay Afghan men seeking refuge.
- It contrasts the dreams of self-invention with harsh political realities.
- The story navigates love and identity across divided continents and identities.
Bobuq Sayed's debut novel, "No God But Us," begins with a powerful depiction of Delbar, a young gay Afghan man living a double life in Washington D.C. His performance of respectability for his immigrant family contrasts sharply with his drag persona, Sharia Raw.
Following a family crisis, Delbar flees to Istanbul, where he encounters Mansur, a queer asylum seeker exiled from Afghanistan and Iran. Their elemental attraction is striking, as neither has met another openly gay Afghan before.
The novel alternates between their perspectives: Delbar's romantic idealism and Mansur's pragmatic weariness shaped by multiple exiles. Istanbul, a city divided by a continent, serves as a fitting backdrop for their story.
Sayed contrasts their experiences within Erdoğan's Turkey, highlighting how even shared spaces and friendships are governed by vastly different conditions of possibility. The narrative touches upon the UNHCR's bureaucratic processes for asylum seekers.
Set against the backdrop of May 2015, the novel reflects on historical divides and the illusion of a simple 'before' and 'after' in history, dedicated to "the transgressors of borders."
Despite a dazzling opening, the novel settles into a more conventional plot of punctured idealism and romantic disillusionment, exploring themes of diaspora and political reality.
