Abstract

The issue of migration, specifically the transnational identity of the migrant, holds particular significance in postcolonial studies. The migrant’s departure from their homeland and their presence at the core of an alien culture leads to the formation of a 'composite' identity, one that challenges the dividing lines between the self and the other and all other binary oppositions.

The novel Velvet (Makhmaľ) by the Palestinian writer Huzama Habayeb focuses on the human and emotional dimensions of the lives of Palestinians in the Baqa'a Refugee Camp in Jordan. It explores, whether indirectly or directly, the deep and enduring repercussions of colonialism on the social, psychological, and cultural structures of individuals by addressing life within the refugee camp.

This study employs the descriptive-analytical method, relying on postcolonial criticism and the concepts of Homi Bhabha such as "Hybrid Identity," "Mimicry," and the "Third Space," in order to analyze the representations of women and Palestinian identity in the novel Velvet within the contexts of colonialism and post-colonialism. The study focuses on the mechanisms of narration and character building as tools for revealing the forms of resistance the text puts forth in the face of dominant discourses.

The research findings show that the novel does not merely undermine these discourses; it grants the Palestinian experience new dimensions that transcend traditional frameworks and reformulates the relationship between the self and the other. The novel demonstrates that resistance in the postcolonial context is not manifested solely in direct confrontation, but in the capacity for re-representation (re-enactment), re-negotiation, and re-writing within the system of the dominant discourse. Furthermore, through Homi Bhabha's theory, particularly the concepts of "Third Space," "Hybridity," and "Mimicry," the novel does not reproduce the image of the Palestinian refugee as a passive victim. Instead, it presents them as an active agent who practices symbolic and moral resistance through a continuous process of re-negotiation with the self and the other. The novel opens a new horizon for understanding Palestinian identity as a continuous project of negotiation, resistance, and re-creation.