The Quest for Home and Prelapsarian Innocence in Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient (1992)
Kahina ENTEGHAR
University of Boumerdes, M’hamed Bougarra, Algeria
k.enteghar@univ-boumerdes.dz
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0570-9479
Mallek BENLAHCENE
University of Batna 2 Mostefa Ben Boulaïd, Algeria
m.benlahcene@univ-batna2.dz
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9005-7055
Abstract
This article examines the conceptualization of the African Sahara as a constructive space in The English Patient (1992) by Canadian author Michael Ondaatje. It seeks to develop a postcolonial argument on Ondaatje’s representation of the desert through an exploration of its sacred geography, drawing on Carl Jung’s archetype of the mother and Martin Heidegger’s concept of “dwelling,” which he associates with “being” and homeliness. In doing so, the study analyzes the depiction of the desert as a healing space where one can reconnect with prelapsarian innocence and regain a sense of home. It challenges portrayals of the desert as a destructive territory. Instead, it elucidates how geography and space are rearticulated in postcolonial literature as part of a counter-hegemonic discourse of resistance and reclamation. The paper argues that colonial explorations of the Orient resulted not only in acts of exploitation and violence but also in phenomenological and psychological homelessness, as well as the loss of physical dwelling. It concludes that Ondaatje’s achievement in the novel lies in his effort to search for and restore the dignity of the desert of the Orient.
Keywords: Archetype of the mother, desert, dwelling, Michael Ondaatje, prelapsarian innocence
How to Cite this Paper :
Enteghar, K., & Benlahcene, M. (2026). The Quest for Home and Prelapsarian Innocence in Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient (1992). Atras Journal, 7(1), 130-145.
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