Abstract
Taking its cue from recent studies about African diasporas and Khalid Koser's thought- provoking work on illegal diasporas, this article sets out to investigate representations of African refugees and illegal diasporas in Abdulrazak Gurnah's topical novel By the Sea (2001). By relating Koser's concept of illegal diasporas to Jacques Derrida's understanding of unconditional hospitality this article considers narrative modes through which illegality and the limits of hospitality are negotiated in Gurnah's novel. Within its fictional negotiation a complex and heterogeneous picture emerges which challenges common stereotypical images of “the African refugee” in Britain and Europe by revealing national and societal inclusion and exclusion strategies. This, however, means that Koser's concept of illegal diasporas is central to an understanding of Britishness on the one hand and the fabrication of a European concept [Europagedanke ] on the other.