“Writing Beyond the Ending” and Diasporic Narrativity in Loveleen Rihel Brennaʼs Min annerledeshet, min styrke

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article analyzes Loveleen Rihel Brenna’s memoir, Min annerledeshet, min styrke (2012) [My Otherness, My Strength]. It focuses on Brenna’s use of literary appropriation techniques, the memoirist’s use of intertextuality, and the role of the Bildungsroman genre in her memoir. The article begins by contextualizing Brenna’s diasporic location. Then, using concepts inspired from Rachel Blau DuPlessis’s book Writing Beyond the Ending (1985) in conjunction with intertextual references from Brenna’s memoir, the article offers a close reading of Min annerledeshet, min styrke to explore the complexity of Brenna’s use of the conventional and unconventional patterns of the female Bildungsroman genre in order to understand how her use of the genre engages with the question of women and multiculturalism in Norway.