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

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.

The Mosaics of National Identity in the Arab American Diaspora: Exploring Long-Distance Nationalism in Diana Abu-Jaber’s Crescent

Carol Fadda-Conrey (2014) points out that Arab American literature emerged remarkably in the early years of the 21st century, accompanying various political events and turmoil in either the USA or the Arab world, particularly the Middle East. One of the key aspects of this ethnic literature is the manifestation of the Arab national identity and the call for unity and solidarity among kin Arab communities, whether locally or across borders. This paper, as such, by taking Diana Abu-Jaber’s novel Crescent (2003) as an example of the Arab American fiction produced in the contemporary era, examines the components of nationalism as expressed from afar – long-distance nationalism. This type of national propensity has received little attention in contemporary literary studies. In addition to using critical and analytical approaches to the novel, this paper basically relies on a socioconceptual framework based on the perspectives of prominent theorists and critics, such as Carol Fadda-Conrey, Nina Glick Shiller, Gabriella Elgenius, and Tololyan Khachig, to name a few.

The Power of Recipes: Culinary Practice as a Strategy to Deconstruct Arab-American Identity in Diana Abu-Jaber’s Crescent

Crescent (2003) is an example of the kind of Arab-American literature that has emerged noticeably in the early years of the 21st century. It signifies a hypothesis that culinary practice is an essential cultural component for diasporic figures to define their identities, especially in a multi-cultural society. These figures embrace such component to strategically define themselves and assert their belonging and affiliation to their original homelands. This paper, as such, examines the extent to which Arab-American characters in the novel, namely Sirine and Han, consider culinary practice as a key tool to understanding their identity, locate themselves in a multi-cultural society, and re-discover their true belonging. The study of this novel shows that culinary practices, as indicated in the narratives, deconstruct Arab-American identity through various dimensions, including memory, nostalgia, hybridity, and essentialism. In addition to employing critical and analytical approaches to the novel, this paper relies on a socio-cultural conceptual framework based on perspectives of prominent critics and theorists such as Homi Bhabha, Brinda Mehta, Dallen Timothy, and Stuart Hall, to name a few.

The Politics and Aesthetics of Storytelling in Diana Abu-Jaber’s Crescent: A Strategic Implementation of an Old Folkloric Arab Tradition

This paper discusses the politics and multi-functionality of storytelling in Diana Abu-Jaber’s novel Crescent (2003). I argue that the strategic use of storytelling places Crescent as a complex hybrid text that projects the nature, and development, of Arab American literature in the contemporary era. In addition to having the practice of storytelling as an apparatus to project identity in Crescent, Abu-Jaber re-appropriates its empowered status in Arab culture as well as politicizes its image in the mind of her readers. Besides employing critical and analytical approaches to the novel, this paper relies on arguments and perspectives of prominent postcolonial and literary critics and theorists such as Edward Said, Suzanne Keen, Walter Benjamin, and Samaya Sami Sabry, to name a few.

The Fourth Space as an Escape from Colliding Cultures in Mohja Kahf's "The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf"

<p>The main axis of Arab American literature is its portrayal of the experiences that Arab Americans go through in their daily life inside and outside the USA. Taking Mohja Kahf’s novel as a literary sample, this paper examines the extent to which triple consciousness, faith development, and existentialist thought forge Khadra’s perplexity in understanding her identity – she struggles to explore her true self in two different cultural realms i.e., Mecca and Indianapolis. By employing points of view and criticism of well-known scholars and critics such as Erik Erikson, Henri Tajfel and James Fowler, this paper concludes that Khadra, as an escape from her psychological unrest in two incompatible cultures, locates herself in what I call as the fourth space.</p>

Intersections of Arab American and Asian American Literature

The interconnections between Asian American and Arab American studies are deep and long-standing, with scholars and activists in both these intersecting fields affirming their common investments in anti-racist, anti-imperial, transnational, and coalitional feminist frameworks. Various scholars have even called for Arab Americans to be included under a broader definition of Asian American identities. An intersectional study of the forms of alliances and solidarities developing among these racialized communities becomes a cornerstone for combating the effects of racism, orientalism, imperialism, and xenophobia, as well as enactments of occupation, exclusions, internment, and incarceration carried out by the projects of colonialism and empire within the United States and abroad. Even while being shaped by the specificities of geographical, historical, and political contexts, Arab American literature showcases an array of thematic foci and engagements that link it to other ethnic literary traditions, including Asian American literature. Such thematic connections extend to engagements with cultural and transnational in-betweenness, collective and individual marginalization and racialization, wars and conflicts in original home countries and their effects on US diasporic identities, transnational connections and movement across borders, food and cultural memory, language, gender roles, heritage, and religious expression, to name but a few. The literary output of Arab American and Asian American writers from the 19th century up till the early 21st century closely reflects the factors that shape Arab and Asian experiences in the United States and the conditions that shape the affective, material, legal, and political lives of immigrant and diasporic communities. The viewpoints, experiences, and perspectives presented in the works of Arab American and Asian American writers, however, are far from uniform. They are widely varied, encompassing different immigration pathways, histories, struggles, military and geopolitical conflicts, literary lineages, and artistic investments.

FOREIGNISMS IN “THE BOOK OF KHALID” BY AMEEN RIHANI AS A MEANS OF SELF-IDENTIFICATION AND SELF-REPRESENTATION

Te article focuses on the foreignisms used in the multicultural novel “Te Book of Khalid” by Ameen Rihani. Foreign words in literature possess certain attractive power as well as produce esthetic and artistic effects. Along with creative force and meaning foreignisms may as well give the reader some notion of the author’s self-identifcation and self-representation as member of the literary intellectual community of Syrian and Lebanese frst emigrants in the frst half of the XX-th century. Te novel in question is characteristic of typical features related to Arab-American literature of that period. Stylistic and literary analysis of foreign words in the book gave the desired self-image of the author as a representative of the Arab community in the USA. Tis image comprises certain philosophical and religious principles, authentic social and cultural features, literary and stylistic uniqueness. Close analysis of foreignisms as a linguistic and stylistic means adds to the overall understanding of the novel including the underlying messages and conceptual implications.