From Rejection to Belonging: Alternative Community Formation and the Politics of Chosen Family in Contemporary Fiction

Abstract

The study investigates how communities form out of rejection as an outcome of sustained interpersonal interactions within modern literature. Specific attention will be paid to the process of reconstructing a sense of belonging for marginalized people. The study employs qualitative textual data from the literary work entitled 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World written by Elif Shafak. Data was sourced from the selected literary work via close readings of key narrative events involving familial rejection, social exclusion, and the emergence of chosen communities. Many textual examples were intentionally chosen to facilitate thematic analysis of rejection and community formation. IPAR Theory proposed by Ronald P. Rohner is used as the main theoretical framework, alongside sociological theories on community and belonging. Rejection experiences have a significant effect on personality development and contribute to identity disintegration and emotional instability, eventually leading to the formation of chosen communities. The “water family” from the novel becomes an example of such compensatory mechanism, where the characters receive a sense of acceptance, support, and a feeling of inclusion, but not complete freedom from feelings of exclusion. Such an approach to study enriches inter-disciplinary studies on literature by means of connecting psychological and literary approaches for the purpose of understanding community through a broader perspective. In addition, the current study develops previous literary criticism through emphasis on alternative communities as sources of strength and partial redemption.