مجلة أنسنة للبحوث و الدراسات
Volume 17, Numéro 1, Pages 257-269
2026-07-24
From Roots To Routes: A Deleuzo-guattarian Reading Of Naomi Shihab Nye’s The Travelling Onion
Authors : Nouioua Wafa .
Abstract
This study examines Naomi Shihab Nye’s The Traveling Onion within the context of Arab American diasporic poetry, drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the rhizome. It questions traditional views of identity that associate belonging with fixed roots and a single homeland, and instead it argues that belonging is constructed through movement, connection, and shared experiences. The study adopts a qualitative approach and a descriptive-analytical method based on close textual reading of the poem. The results of the analysis suggest that the onion functions as a central metaphor for diasporic identity that is layered rather than essential, mobile rather than rooted, and productive through its capacity to nourish others across cultural and geographic boundaries. By foregrounding everyday objects and ordinary labor, The Traveling Onion articulates a non-nostalgic and ethical vision of displacement in which identity is sustained through use, exchange, and interconnectedness rather than attachment to a single place of origin.
Keywords
The Travelling Onion ; Naomi Shihab Nye ; Identity ; The Rhizome ; Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari
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