“Getting Naturalized”: Performances of Belonging

This chapter analyzes Seth’s successive performances of national identities. Unconcerned by the interpenetration of cultures, Seth maintains boundaries between the vastly different geographical settings and cultures he explores, evincing each time a distinct yearning for immersion and championing assimilation rather than cultural difference. I unveil, however, the presence of a system of slippages that cracks Seth’s representations of natural assimilation, revealing that his seemingly placid texts are in fact marked by a certain violence.