Refugee “home” spaces: between real and ideal in autobiographical writings

Autobiographical works written by those who were refugees as children often provide intricate detail of domestic space, both prior to fleeing and upon arrival at their space of refuge. Child refugees often face ongoing upheaval and uncertainty, as the home spaces they encounter are unfamiliar and fail to meet basic needs like privacy, security, and the opportunity for personalisation. They are also frequently forced to relocate. This article explores how child refugees reconstruct concepts of home in Mohamed & Jamieson’s When Stars are Scattered and Wamariya & Weil’s The Girl Who Smiled Beads. It examines the ways in which spaces that take on the present role of “home” often fail to align with the expected properties of “home” for child refugees who have been separated from familiar environments. Drawing on theories of heterotopias and the development of meaningful space, it examines the ways in which children engage with the imagination and physical place to meet their emotional and psychological needs.