Preferred Reading to Polysemic Reception

Applying Hall’s Encoding/Decoding to Refugee Representation in The Other Hand (Little Bee) by Chris Cleave

Abstract

This research article applies the theory of encoding and decoding by Stuart Hall to analyze Chris Cleave's novel The Other Hand (also known as Little Bee), arguing that the novel encodes a liberal humanist ideology framing refugee suffering within a Western moral lens, thereby inviting reader empathy while reproducing power disparities between the savior and the victim. Cleave criticizes Western humanitarianism and institutional violence through the alternating first-person narratives of Little Bee, a Nigerian asylum seeker, and Sarah, a British lady. However, the novel's emotive appeals to normalize hierarchies of speech and visibility. Focusing on the encoding/decoding theory, which posits that text encodes dominant ideologies, but the readers decode them hegemonically, negotiated, or oppositional, the analysis examines encoding via textual elements like trauma depictions and cultural codes. The focus then switches to deciphering 15 recent Goodreads reviews (as of November 2025), which suggest a polysemic reception. Ultimately, the study highlights the ideological negotiation at the intersection of empathy, race, and gender, underscoring the limits of literary empathy in fostering political change amid global inequities. This contributes to cultural studies by illustrating how humanitarian literature circulates meanings in contested social contexts.