Dinarzad's Children: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Fiction. Ed. Pauline Kaldas and Khaled Mattawa. Fayetteville: U of Arkansas P, 2004. 334 pages. $24.95 paper.

MELUS ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 272-274
Author(s):  
J. Blair
Keyword(s):  
Arab American ◽  
American Fiction

scholarly journals Writing Arab-American Identity Post 9/11

1970 ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
Carol Fadda-Conrey
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Short Fiction ◽  
American Identity ◽  
Arab American ◽  
American Fiction ◽  
The Us ◽  
Arab American Literature

In their introduction to the first anthology of Arab-American short fiction, Dinarzad’s Children: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Fiction, editors Pauline Kaldas and Khaled Mattawa (2004) comment on the inextricable link between the global political repercussions triggered by the events of 9/11 and the need to assert Arab-American literature on the US literary map.

scholarly journals Understanding Arab American Identity through Orientalist Stereotypes and Representations in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf (2006)

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-52
Author(s):  
Ishak Berrebbah
Keyword(s):  
American Identity ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Arab American ◽  
American Fiction ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Diasporic Literature ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
American Society

Abstract Arab-American women’s literature has emerged noticeably in the early years of the 21st century. The social and political atmosphere in post-9/11 America encouraged the growth of such literature and brought it to international attention. This diasporic literature functions as a means of discussing the Orientalist discourse that circumscribes Arab American identity and its effects in determining their position in the wider American society. As such, this article investigates the extent to which Edward Said’s discourse of Orientalism is employed by Mohja Kahf in her novel The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf (2006) to project the stereotypes and misrepresentations that confine the identity of Arab and Muslim characters in the US society. This article suggests that post-9/11 Arab American fiction serves as a literary reference to such stereotype-based discourse in the contemporary era. The arguments in this article, while employing an analytical and critical approach to the novel, are outlined within postcolonial and Orientalist theoretical frameworks based on arguments of prominent critics and scholars such as Peter Morey, Edward Said, and Jack Shaheen, to name just a few.

scholarly journals Te “Concept – Image − Motive” Triad in Arab-American Fiction Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-64
Author(s):  
M. A. Dubovitskaya
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Arab American ◽  
American Fiction ◽  
Concept Image ◽  
The Social ◽  
Arab American Literature ◽  
Linguistic Material

Arab-American multicultural, or cross-cultural, literature related to different time periods is closely examined in the article. Tese writings are part of borderline literature due to the fact that the central theme in them is the theme of dual (transitional) identity. Te author provides a defnition of “liminality”, which is necessary when considering the phenomena of bilingualism and biculturalism. Te relevance of the study is due to the growing interest in emigrant literature as a source of meanings scattered in the text, contributing to the understanding of the social and cultural context. Te motive, image and the concept are singled out in the works of Arab-American literature to decode hidden meanings. Te results of the analysis of the main motives, taken in diachrony, are presented, and their similarities and differences are revealed. Te fact that the same motives, for example, the motives of nature and music, are found in completely different works, speaks of their semantic, cultural and literary signifcance. Te novelty of the research is seen in the combination of linguo-literary and linguo-stylistic methods in the analysis of linguistic material, which helps to identify psychological, cultural and social aspects in the Arab-American fction discourse.

scholarly journals Understanding the Function of Empathy through Laila Halaby’s West of the Jordan

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-90
Author(s):  
Ishak Berrebbah
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Arab American ◽  
American Fiction ◽  
Ethnic Literature

Abstract Arab American fiction has received great attention in the post-9/11 period. This ethnic literature has been put under a critical lens due to the aspects that shape it and the issues discussed in it. One of the main objectives of Arab American fiction is to bridge cultural differences and appeal to its readers, both Arabs and non-Arabs. This particular objective is achieved by the authors’ willingness to trigger empathetic engagement with their characters. As such, this paper looks at how Laila Halaby’s West of the Jordan (2003) functions in accordance with the poetics of empathy. In other words, the aim of this paper is to show how fiction appeals to its readers through empathy and how empathetic engagement sustains the characters-readers connection, taking West of the Jordan as a literary example. This paper suggests that empathy in fiction is multi-layered and serves different purposes. The arguments are based on a conceptual framework supported by scholarly perspectives of prominent critics and theorists such as Chielozona Eze, Heather Hoyt, and Suzanne Keen, to name just a few.

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