Secondary Source Blueprint of Anam’s Argument

I. Citation:

Anam, Nasia. “The Migrant as Colonist: Dystopia and Apocalypse in the
Literature of Mass Migration.” ASAP/Journal, vol. 3, no. 3, Sept. 2018, pp. 653–677, https://doi.org/10.1353/asa.2018.0043.

II. Thesis:

Anam’s Thesis: The proximity of the coming apocalypse
is a shared feature in these works, yet where the existential threat lies within
the narrative can differ greatly. The threat may be perceived as the kind of
military violence, political upheaval, or climate disaster that compels people to
migrate away from their homelands. Contrarily, the threat may be perceived
as the arrival of those very migrants themselves. This difference in vantage
point has immense ideological weight in determining what a given apocalyptic
narrative pinpoints as the cause of impending end-times, and indeed, what it
actually means for Western civilization to crumble. (pg 654)

I seek to draw a connection between literary form and the conditions of migration as
they transition from those of arriving to settling, and by dystopian extension,
to dominating. The texts I examine here all imagine the ends of this historical
process to be the total destruction of Western civilization. However, whether
this end is understood to be apocalyptic—or even how one comprehends the
semiotic significance of “apocalypse” as a concept—is determined by the way
the text portrays the subjectivity of the migrant. (pg 657)

My Words: Europe has been anxious about Islam and the East since forever. The mass migration of those of Islamic nationality is what awoken Europe as an entity and culture, which made nativist Europeans and Westerners concerned that their way of life will be threated, overrun and taken over by middle eastern migrants. They essentially fear being colonized by the middle east when ironically, Europe is also built of migrants and immigrants who did the same. The main takeaway is immigration is not as evil and destructive as Western media has depicted it out to be for centuries. There is a narrative that is being overlooked thanks to this apocalyptic image.

III. Analysis:

Anam starts out by hooking the reader by addressing the public and political
discourses surrounding the so called “migrant crisis” and the perpetual “War on Terror.” She then mentions how the word apocalypse is being used more by journalists, bloggers, and politicians across the spectrum to describe a number of factors surrounding mass migration, whether it be the dire circumstances, the state of the “host” nations in Global North, or the future of the world at large. Basically, really scaling the how the word is being used and how it is mainly being used in the context of what will happen if too many Islamic migrants are to let into Europe. Anam then later summarizes what articles she will draw on to emphasize this point.

Then she provides historical context for her argument. She introduces examples of migration and colonialism, and how the two have been interconnected for centuries. This really helps to give her argument a broader context and wider range. For example, she speaks on the relationships Europe and Islam/the East. Europe has been anxious about Islam and the East since forever. “The very idea of Europe as we know it now—invented
as it was in the early modern period—was formed in contrast to the threat of
the Islamic empires encroaching into continental and Levantine territories,
and imperiling Christendom as such.” (pg 657) Then she moves on to the overall fear mongering and propaganda placed over it all, with examples of Thomas More’s Utopia, seeds of nationalism and nativist views by politicians such as Enoch Powell and the “War on Terror.” After that she touches on how “national identity” started to cause migrates as outsiders or an outside force as there was a political shift inward as people migrated to England and France. Anam used Burgees’s novel that once again paints a dystopian picture and fear of Islam taking over Great Britian and France (and technically all of Europe) culturally and ideologically. The irony here is that this is quite literally the thing England/Great Britian, France, and many Western nations did during European expansion.

Anam’s article then concludes strongly by revisiting the initial political debates and then revisiting the idea that if we change our perspective, we can then see that mass migration does NOT have to be seen as apocalyptic. If we move away from this narrative heavily based in old time nativism and xenophobia, we can see it in a different light rather than in the ways of the fear mongering brought by fear of opposition.

IV. Three Rhetorical Strategies:

1. The numbered, titled, and sectioned headers. It really helped to tie the overall organization of the work together and helped with cohesion. It helped to prepare the reader for what topic is going to be introduced.

Examples:

I. THE FEAR OF A MUSLIM PLANET

II. INVERTING COLONIAL “UTOPIA”

2. The personal voice and insertion AKA use of “I.” It adds a more personal touch and value to the argument because the author can actually relate to their argument.

Examples:

“Secondly, I argue that perhaps even more powerfully, the political
underpinnings of these texts harken back to the centuries even prior to colonization, to European anxieties regarding the Islamic empires that stemmed from
the Crusades” (pg 656)

“The texts I examine here all imagine the ends of this historical
process to be the total destruction of Western civilization.” (pg 657)

“At the heart of each text I examine lies the question: Is mass migration a new form of colonization, or is it simply the only possible means of survival on our increasingly unstable globe?” (pg 657)

3. The way Anam always went back to her point and circled back. She would introduce something, connect it, then return back to the overall idea or moment. For example, Anam starts out with mentioning the political discussion around migration and returns to it in the end

V. Rhetorical Moves to Not Use

1. Though not Rhetorical, I’m not a big fan of the formatting. Sometimes it was endearing but sometimes it was distracting. It’s like a zig-zaggy pattern that gets interuppted by the quotes. Sometimes I enjoyed it but the way that the paragraphs move around due to it was a little distracting.

-Pledge VVB