Abstract
Abstract: Suspicion and distrust of migrants and asylum seekers have been part of the Dutch media landscape for decades, particularly regarding youth from Muslim countries. These minors have been framed as inherently violent, religiously radical, and incompatible with Dutch social mores by dominant cultural narratives, represented by both the media and political debates. The narrative framing young asylum seekers, especially Muslims, combined with the disenfranchisement suffered by refugees in the asylum-seeking process, means young refugees are systematically demonized and disempowered. This article analyses a novel that contradicts the pervasive narratives surrounding young asylum seekers in the Netherlands. De Gelukvinder stars a protagonist doubly oppressed by Dutch society, both as a refugee and a teenager. We analyze how the narrative reflects the power dynamics and agency involved in the Dutch asylum process and discuss how the novel itself, an award-winning co-written project between a Dutch-born adult author and an Afghan refugee teen, counteracts the disempowerment stemming from Dutch public discourse. We argue that De Gelukvinder empowers the adolescent asylum seeker whilst foregrounding to an adolescent audience the disempowerment refugees face when coming to the Netherlands.
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