BUCH
Arab American Novels Post-9/11
Classical Storytelling Motifs Against Outsidership
Sawires-Masseli, Marie-Christin
American Studies – A Monograph Series, Bd. 293
2018
Zusätzliche Informationen
Bibliografische Daten
Abstract
In the aftermath of 9/11, Arab American writing surged. While there have been Arab American writers before, they tended to identify as American only and thus did not recur to Arab elements in their writing. Why did Arab American literature suddenly rise? What is its purpose? How do the novels deal with 9/11? How do authors portray their group’s identity, how the group’s position in US society? And how do they poeticize these questions? What sets them apart from mainstream literature? Many Arab American novels draw on well-known, classical Arab storytelling traditions. In how far do they adapt them? This study analyzes Diana Abu-Jaber’s Crescent, Rabih Alameddine’s ‘The Hakawati’, Laila Halaby’s ‘Once in a Promised Land’, and Alia Yunis’ ‘The Night Counter’; and it answers the above questions by a close reading against the background of classical Arab elements, and by employing concepts of figurational sociology to analyze the poeticization of establishment and outsidership in the novels.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
| Zwischenüberschrift | Seite | Aktion | Preis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Titel | III | ||
| Imprint | IV | ||
| Acknowledgments | V | ||
| Contents | VII | ||
| 1 Introduction | 1 | ||
| 2 Storytelling in Rabih Alameddine’s „The Hakawati“ | 23 | ||
| 2.1 Summary of the novel | 23 | ||
| 2.2 Metafictional Comments on Storytelling | 28 | ||
| 2.3 Religion and good vs. evil in the different narrative strands | 42 | ||
| 2.3.1 King Kade, the army of light, and their fight against color | 44 | ||
| 2.3.2 Afreet-Jehanam’s story on hell and paradise | 48 | ||
| 2.3.3 The prophet Shams and the color tyranny | 49 | ||
| 2.3.4 A holy birth and the cult | 51 | ||
| 2.3.5 Religious references in the Baybars story | 56 | ||
| 2.3.6 Religious charades in Osama’s family | 59 | ||
| 2.3.7 Conclusive remarks on religion and storytelling | 61 | ||
| 2.4 Homosexuality in the different narrative strands | 62 | ||
| 2.4.1 Homosexuality in the frame narrative | 62 | ||
| 2.4.2 Homosexuality in the Fatima strand | 65 | ||
| 2.5 Women doubles in the different narrative strands | 69 | ||
| 2.6 Recurring motifs and entwined narrative strands | 76 | ||
| 2.7 Music as a core expression of cultural identity | 80 | ||
| 2.8 Conclusion to „The Hakawati“ | 90 | ||
| 3 Storytelling in Diana Abu-Jaber’s „Crescent“ | 95 | ||
| 3.1 A short summary of the novel’s plot | 95 | ||
| 3.2 Storytelling principles, the fable and its implications | 96 | ||
| 3.2.1 Summary of the fable | 98 | ||
| 3.2.2 Shifting identities and misleading assumptions in the fable | 100 | ||
| 3.2.3 Arabness in the fable | 107 | ||
| 3.2.4 The fable’s purpose and implications for the novel as a whole | 112 | ||
| 3.2.5 Han and Abdelrahman as alter egos | 116 | ||
| 3.2.6 Other interfaces between frame narrative and fable | 126 | ||
| 3.3 Arab Women in „Crescent“ | 128 | ||
| 3.4 Religion in „Crescent“ | 136 | ||
| 3.5 Immigrants in America – outsidership or integration? | 140 | ||
| 3.5.1 Arabs in the United States | 140 | ||
| 3.5.2 Arab Americans and other immigrant groups in „Crescent“ | 153 | ||
| 3.6 The Image of America in „Crescent“ | 157 | ||
| 3.7 Conclusion to „Crescent“ | 162 | ||
| 4 Storytelling in Laila Halaby’s „Once in A Promised Land“ | 167 | ||
| 4.1 Summary of the novel | 167 | ||
| 4.2 Storytelling principles in the novel’s frame | 168 | ||
| 4.2.1 The frame’s first part: “Before” | 168 | ||
| 4.2.2 The frame’s second part: “After” | 170 | ||
| 4.3 The fairy tale of Nus Nsays | 179 | ||
| 4.4 American and Arab culture in the main narrative | 181 | ||
| 4.4.1 The portrait of America | 182 | ||
| 4.4.2 The image of Arabs in „Once in a Promised Land“ | 190 | ||
| 4.4.3 Outsiders in America – the end of the American Dream | 195 | ||
| 4.5 Conclusion to Once In A Promised Land | 200 | ||
| 5 Storytelling in Alia Yunis’ „The Night Counter“ | 203 | ||
| 5.1 Summary of the novel | 203 | ||
| 5.2 Scheherazade as motif and structuring element | 206 | ||
| 5.3 Metafictional comments on storytelling | 214 | ||
| 5.4 The function of humor in „The Night Counter“ | 216 | ||
| 5.4.1 Humor and fate | 219 | ||
| 5.4.2 Humor and religion | 224 | ||
| 5.5 Women in The Night Counter | 233 | ||
| 5.6 Arabs and America in The Night Counter: the established and the outsiders | 239 | ||
| 5.6.1 The Abdullah family as outsiders in the USA: double-consciousness and assimilation | 240 | ||
| 5.6.1.1 Nadia: ascension and group cohesion | 246 | ||
| 5.6.1.2 Bassam: self-loathing and anomic condition | 248 | ||
| 5.6.1.3 Randa: assimilation to annihilation | 250 | ||
| 5.6.2 September 11 and its repercussions | 254 | ||
| 5.6.2.1 September 11 and its effect on Arab outsiders | 254 | ||
| 5.6.2.2 September 11 and the established’s reactions | 260 | ||
| 5.6.3 Different outsider groups and identity in „The Night Counter“ | 264 | ||
| 5.7 Conclusion to „The Night Counter“ | 275 | ||
| 6. Arab American storytelling after 9/11: entering public discourse | 279 | ||
| Works Cited | 293 | ||
| Backcover | 302 |
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