My research presents a comparative analysis that investigates a selection of the works of Kamel Daoud, Sayed Kashua and Alain Mabanckou, which will be researched as a group in the light of their similar stance toward the concept of identity and cultural belonging. I focus on these authors` use of intertextual allusions, irony and sarcasm as tools for questioning or rejecting the traditional notion of identity. Subversive literature in colonial and postcolonial settings has been published in a variety of regions and in a multitude of languages and its target was, naturally, the oppressive regime. In this literary strand we encounter much engagement with the search for a clear and defined identity, which would distinguish the young nation from all other states. In most cases, identity was constructed as a reaction to others` identities, as a correction or as resistance to the hegemonic rule. Language occupies a crucial position in this quest for a distinctive identity; being an inseparable component of culture, language facilitates ideological and psychological perception, like experiences of belonging and alienation, inclusion and differentiation, resistance, acquiescence and more. Through the well-pondered use of a specific language, as is done by the authors I present, commonly accepted intellectual streams can be undermined. Daoud, Kashua, and Mabanckou seek to scrutinize and marginalize traditional identity, thereby emptying it of significance in the contemporary post-colonial discourse.