Representations of Transnational Identity in Contemporary Literature through a Comparative Literature Approach

Abstract

This study aims to analyze representations of transnational identity in contemporary literature through a comparative literature approach. The issue examined in this study concerns how literary texts represent migration, diaspora, multilingualism, cultural memory, home, race, gender, and belonging in a globalized world. This research used a qualitative design based on comparative literary study. The data were collected through documentation, close reading, and textual observation of selected contemporary literary texts that contain issues of migration, diaspora, and cultural negotiation. The corpus was selected through purposive sampling based on relevance to transnational identity, contemporary literary context, and richness of narrative evidence. The data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis by identifying codes, categories, and major themes across the selected texts. The findings show five main themes: home as an unstable and negotiated space, language as a marker of identity and difference, the racialized and gendered body in transnational space, memory as a bridge between past and present, and comparative differences across literary traditions. These findings indicate that transnational identity in contemporary literature is not fixed, but continuously formed through movement, social relations, cultural contact, and narrative strategy. The study contributes to comparative literature, diaspora studies, and postcolonial criticism by offering a framework for reading identity across national and cultural boundaries. Future studies may include Indonesian diaspora literature and Southeast Asian migrant writing to broaden the discussion from non-Western perspectives.