Said & Adorno
As I read this excerpt from Said I couldn't help but think about Dubois's idea of double consciousness. The intellectual is unable to reconcile their identity in their new space as they leave home. Said describes the inability for Adorno to grasp the concept of home as he studies between Oxford and the Frankfurt School to be lost as soon he left and irrecuperable when he returned. There is a loss of common ground between the spaces that he was occupying. The intellectual does not experience the class struggles that black folk do in Dubois's work but the interstitial state of being drives instability in the lives of the oppressed.
Going off your idea of double consciousness, it reminds me of Fanon's article where he talks about the consciousness of the colonized intelluectual. Fanon says the intelluctual's works side with the politicians and he explores the Western culture and tries to identify with it. But then when his people mobilize he experiences cognitive dissonance and and wants to disregard his connection to Western culture. Said also mentions that intellectuals in exile are "happy" with their unhappiness, though I'm sure the Negro intellectual much rather simply have a liberated consciousness.
I am thinking about Dubois' notion of double consciousness and the color line and struggle a little bit to see how it can be fully translated to the state of Syrian refugees. When I think of double consciousness in the Dubois sense, I think of a black individual walking down the street assuming a secondary consciousness that sees him or herself as black. I think this double consciousness is directly related to colour and the sheer difference of colour from those around them. In terms of refugees in Vancouver more specifically, I cannot see this double consciousness arising in terms of ethnic difference. Because Vancouver is so diverse ethnically, it would be harder to see a double consciousness arising because of mere colour.
I may be framing the double consciousness in a way that is too isolated in space and time in that it is the interaction of walking down the street. What other ways can we see a double consciousness in the refugee situation in Canada and beyond?
That's an interesting take on it, and prompts me to think of the work of Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa, who conceptualized borderland theory, which spoke about growing up between two geographical borders and belonging to two incomplete identities; in it, Anzaldúa speaks about developing what she calls the new mestiza, or a higher consciousness which seeks to not only break down barriers but also to overturn the loneliness in borderlands between cultures. Although the context is different, if a supposed synthesis is possible according to Anzaldúa, this should lead to a dual-identity; one that considers one's self not only relative to their current location and their bearings within it, as well as their place of origin and a conscious recognition of its affects. If it is in fact the case that the theories of Anzaldúa and Said are in opposition, it then leads me to wonder as to why a theoretical dual-identity cannot exist.
If we focus on Vancouver, there's a local author that speaks to the idea of living between two worlds in his biotext Diamond Grill. (Fred Wah). The author brings up the idea of the hyphenated identity, which he describes as being "a sign of impurity…and it’s frequently erased as a reminder that the parts…are not equal to the whole". Many of the theorists look into the idea of the dual identity not being a possibility. From the dialectic form illustrating that the relationship comes from the tension or from Fanon's description of the hierarchy between the poor white & black folk. Your identity is shaped from the notion that you are from where you're from and that taints the way you are perceived in the future. Bringing it back to Said when he says that you, essentially, cannot return home once you leave and you cannot be fully immersed when you get there.
by the way if anyone was interested in a wednesday night lecture: http://www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/fredwah/
Taking your argument about double consciousness and the inability to reconcile identity between the new and old space, I believe that this is a relevant point not only for the intellectuals, but also for people in higher social class as well. As expatriates tend to have more flexibility in geographical mobility, one can interpret that the instability Said described is almost as if a class privilege. That only the fortunate ones are able to migrate through education like international students. Although the other thread "Exile and the Syrian Refugee Crisis" deals with forced migration, I believe that your point can be expanded upon regarding how you can create your own double consciousness by choice through social class and your geographical mobility.