Amine: Algerian Paris
Lamar’s Rendezvous Eighteenth advances the trope that Amine examines in African-American expatriate fiction. In Rendezvous Eighteenth, Ricky’s interracial relationships are set in the Eighteenth Arrondissement, and his homosocial relationships are set on both sides of the Seine. In this way, Lamar alters the spatial trope of earlier expatriate fiction. Also, Lamar’s protagonist Ricky lives and works in the Eighteenth Arrondissement, which is the area of African American and Algerian brotherhood. Within and beyond the Eighteenth Arrondissement, Lamar integrates interracial and homosocial relationships that challenge black migration narratives of inclusion.
[1] I will discuss more details of her analysis before I examine Lamar’s contribution to this trope.