Taking wing: Vulnerability and queer/trans resistance in The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the vulnerabilities of groups including lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, as well as migrants. Zeyn Joukhadar’s novel, The Thirty Names of Night (2020), comprises two alternating narratives of three generations of Syrian Americans questing to establish their identities in societies that quell otherness. Drawing on the insights of Jean-Michel Ganteau, I trace the novel’s representations of vulnerability, but supplement Ganteau’s theoretical analysis with another category, that of resistance, illustrated by the intersectional queer and trans resistance Joukhadar’s text limns. This analysis is informed by work by Judith Butler and Jack Halberstam. I argue that while The Thirty Names of Night represents the vulnerability of non-hegemonic characters, it emphasizes the resistance, collective strength and creative agency of such individuals. Reading this internationally published text during a pandemic enables an empathetic understanding of intersectional struggles to prevail against prejudices and othering.