Arabian Jazz deals with the family of the Jordanian immigrant Matussem Ramoud, a fan of jazz who ... more Arabian Jazz deals with the family of the Jordanian immigrant Matussem Ramoud, a fan of jazz who lives with his two American-born daughters, Jemorah and Melvina, in a poor, white community in upper New York state. He struggles with his Arab background and the loss of his wife and finds momentary relief only in playing music. Fatima, Matussem's sister, works hard to make Jemorah and Melvina follow the conventions of their Arab background, her main goal being to get these girls married to fellow Arabs. The plot details the interactions of the Ramouds' extended family and also looks closely at how a small American town treats the Arab-American community. The novel focuses on Matussem's daughters' struggle with their mixed American and Arab identity, particularly Jemorah's ambivalence about her identity and role. The purpose of this essay is to attempt a feminist examination of Arabian Jazz as a major work of Arab-American women's literature, while recognizing in the meantime the mixture of Arab and American cultures in Abu-Jaber's work. Arabian Jazz, this essay will hopefully reveal, offers a hybridized feminist vision that criticizes patriarchal Arab and American cultural attitudes. The essay attempts to show how Abu-Jaber employs major feminist strategies as she deals with the stereotypes of women in masculine culture and, simultaneously, underlines how her feminist concerns respond to or deviate from mainstream feminist theory. The result is a dual feminist perception that constitutes a hybridizing Arab-American feminist stance approached in the light of major theories of cultural hybridity. Working in the shadow of postcolonial theory, Edward Said presented his conception of hybridity as a notion of "protective enclosure" and a reaction against the stigmatizing "imperial process" (xiv). Likewise, Roger Bromley argues that "hybridised discourses are writing very much against the idea of a melting pot or mosaic [...] and, if anything, are sites of cultural resistance and refusal," a matter Bromley relates to Gloria Anzaldua's concepts of borderland and the new mestiza, which represent the development of a context for "a tolerance for contradictions" or pluralities. These pluralities result in what are called "hyphenated identities, living hybrid realities which pose problems for classification" and raise "questions about notions of essential difference" (4-5). As regards Arab-American identity, Carol Fadda-Conrey argues that the hyphen in the term Arab-American "replicates this complexity of 'cultural realities,' instead of mirroring a 'well formulated synthesis'" (204). That is, the hyphen suggests that the word Arab is not a modifier for the word American but is instead an equal part, with the hyphen representing a bridge between the two words. While "the hyphen implies a well-formulated and/or single synthesis of the Arab and American," Mervat Hatem claims, it does not sort out the "complex realities of the community" ("Invisible" 386). Homi Bhabha, on the other hand, underlines the rise of "internationalism" and the establishment of a "middle passage" within which a new "imagined community" arises, a community in which cultures may interact and influence each other in a state of co-existence rather than opposition--that is, a "third space," defined as "the cutting edge of translation and negotiation, the in between space" that is rooted in "the politics of polarity" and leads people to "emerge as others of ourselves" (38-39). Writers with hyphenated identities, Bromley asserts, experience "contradictions and ambivalences, split between home and school languages, physically and racially marked as others" (104-05), an experience that is "marginal" or "between cultures" (115). Bromley's emphasis on location recalls The Location of Culture, in which Bhabha contends that "the social articulation of difference," or hybridity, takes place "in moments of historical transformation" (2), by which a "discourse of boundary" turns into "a matter of 'becoming' (negotiation, perhaps) as well as 'being' (maintenance, perhaps)" (9). …
This paper argues that John Updike’s Terrorist – as also The Coup--, antagonizes and misrepresent... more This paper argues that John Updike’s Terrorist – as also The Coup--, antagonizes and misrepresents Islam as a violent, anti-woman and fanciful religion, by selectively quoting Qur’anic verses out of context. The study classifies and contextualizes Updike's discriminately quoted Qur’anic verses according to the pre-mentioned three-fold pattern and recruits a postcolonial frame to situate Updike's anti-Islam ideology and style. It turns out that Updike’s selective quoting from the Qur’an is a vicious strategy which ignores the context of the quoted verses and overlooks the many verses which refute his anti-Islam claims. That is, Terrorist belongs to Islamophobic literature and neo-colonialism and Updike is an extremist apostle of both.
ABSTRACT The literary reputation of Griselda Gambaro and her masterpieces The Walls, Information ... more ABSTRACT The literary reputation of Griselda Gambaro and her masterpieces The Walls, Information for Foreigners, and Antigona Furiosa remain an interest in studies of modern Latin American drama. The playwright and her dramas still draw scholars’ attention as they deal with political issues and disputes derived from modern Argentinean history during the military coups and the period of the Dirty War (1976-83), and the consequences—whether social, psychological, representational, and/or ethical-- that were caused by these clashes. Indeed, not only is Gambaro privileged in dramatizing subjects like violence and sexuality that capture her spectators’ interests, but she is also distinguished in the way she utilizes staging in effectively dramatizing these topics. This paper aims at exploring Gambaro’s techniques of staging violence and sexuality in the aforementioned plays, in the light of the feminist politics of location. In particular, the examination targets Gambaro’s recruitment of a signifying code of space, along with notions of absence and presence, altogether comprising a feminist issue of location and power, as argued by major feminist critics such as Virginia Woolf, Adrienne Rich, Elaine Showalter, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar. Keywords: Griselda Gambaro; Latin American Drama; Feminism; Theater; Violence.Résumé: La réputation littéraire de Griselda Gambaro et ses chefs-d'œuvre Les Murs, Information pour les étrangers, et Antigona Furiosa restent un intérêt pour les études de théâtre moderne d'Amérique latine. Le dramaturge et ses drames attirent encore l'attention des chercheurs car ils traitent des questions politiques et des conflits issus de l'histoire argentine moderne au cours des coups d'État militaires et de la période de la Guerre Sale (1976-83), et les conséquences, qu'elles soit sociales, psychologiques, figuratives, et / ou éthiques - ont été causées par ces affrontements. En effet, non seulement Gambaro a privilégié dans la dramatisation des sujets comme la violence et la sexualité qui captent les intérêts de ses spectateurs, mais elle se distingue aussi dans la façon dont elle utilise la mise en scène efficace de dramatiser ces sujets. Le présent document vise à explorer les techniques de mise en scène de la violence et la sexualité de Gambaro dans les pièces mentionnées ci-dessus, à la lumière de la politique féministe de l'emplacement. En particulier, l'étude se concentre sur l'utilisation d'un code symbolique de l'espace chez Gambaro, avec les notions d'absence et de présence, tout en comportant une question féministe de l'emplacement et de la puissance, comme l'a soutenue par les principaux critiques féministes, comme Virginia Woolf, Adrienne Rich, Elaine Showalter, Gilbert Sandra et Gubar Susan.Mots-clés: Griselda Gambaro; drame d’amérique latine; féminisme; théâtre; violence
Abstract: This paper examines a cross-cultural concern in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, underlin... more Abstract: This paper examines a cross-cultural concern in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, underlining the story’s striking allusions to Islam which can be categorically seen in the following five aspects: the symbolic black-box, stoning, the status of women, the fixed annual date(s) of the lottery, and the act of calling the participants in the lottery five times (calls), in addition to further points regarding characterization and scapegoat. It turns out that The Lottery is a carefully-woven complexity of symbols allegorizing Islam. Above all, Jackson’s symbolic black box shares a great deal of the distinctions of the Ka’ba and the Black Stone and the brutal ancient rite she recruits echoes the two aspects of stoning in Islamic Hajj and Islam’s penal law regarding adultery. Besides, the annual dates of the lottery reflect on annual rituals in Islam, with additional significance of the twenty-seventh (and twenty-sixth) day of the month. Further, the status of Jackson’s women perhaps ...
Arabian Jazz deals with the family of the Jordanian immigrant Matussem Ramoud, a fan of jazz who ... more Arabian Jazz deals with the family of the Jordanian immigrant Matussem Ramoud, a fan of jazz who lives with his two American-born daughters, Jemorah and Melvina, in a poor, white community in upper New York state. He struggles with his Arab background and the loss of his wife and finds momentary relief only in playing music. Fatima, Matussem's sister, works hard to make Jemorah and Melvina follow the conventions of their Arab background, her main goal being to get these girls married to fellow Arabs. The plot details the interactions of the Ramouds' extended family and also looks closely at how a small American town treats the Arab-American community. The novel focuses on Matussem's daughters' struggle with their mixed American and Arab identity, particularly Jemorah's ambivalence about her identity and role. The purpose of this essay is to attempt a feminist examination of Arabian Jazz as a major work of Arab-American women's literature, while recognizing in the meantime the mixture of Arab and American cultures in Abu-Jaber's work. Arabian Jazz, this essay will hopefully reveal, offers a hybridized feminist vision that criticizes patriarchal Arab and American cultural attitudes. The essay attempts to show how Abu-Jaber employs major feminist strategies as she deals with the stereotypes of women in masculine culture and, simultaneously, underlines how her feminist concerns respond to or deviate from mainstream feminist theory. The result is a dual feminist perception that constitutes a hybridizing Arab-American feminist stance approached in the light of major theories of cultural hybridity. Working in the shadow of postcolonial theory, Edward Said presented his conception of hybridity as a notion of "protective enclosure" and a reaction against the stigmatizing "imperial process" (xiv). Likewise, Roger Bromley argues that "hybridised discourses are writing very much against the idea of a melting pot or mosaic [...] and, if anything, are sites of cultural resistance and refusal," a matter Bromley relates to Gloria Anzaldua's concepts of borderland and the new mestiza, which represent the development of a context for "a tolerance for contradictions" or pluralities. These pluralities result in what are called "hyphenated identities, living hybrid realities which pose problems for classification" and raise "questions about notions of essential difference" (4-5). As regards Arab-American identity, Carol Fadda-Conrey argues that the hyphen in the term Arab-American "replicates this complexity of 'cultural realities,' instead of mirroring a 'well formulated synthesis'" (204). That is, the hyphen suggests that the word Arab is not a modifier for the word American but is instead an equal part, with the hyphen representing a bridge between the two words. While "the hyphen implies a well-formulated and/or single synthesis of the Arab and American," Mervat Hatem claims, it does not sort out the "complex realities of the community" ("Invisible" 386). Homi Bhabha, on the other hand, underlines the rise of "internationalism" and the establishment of a "middle passage" within which a new "imagined community" arises, a community in which cultures may interact and influence each other in a state of co-existence rather than opposition--that is, a "third space," defined as "the cutting edge of translation and negotiation, the in between space" that is rooted in "the politics of polarity" and leads people to "emerge as others of ourselves" (38-39). Writers with hyphenated identities, Bromley asserts, experience "contradictions and ambivalences, split between home and school languages, physically and racially marked as others" (104-05), an experience that is "marginal" or "between cultures" (115). Bromley's emphasis on location recalls The Location of Culture, in which Bhabha contends that "the social articulation of difference," or hybridity, takes place "in moments of historical transformation" (2), by which a "discourse of boundary" turns into "a matter of 'becoming' (negotiation, perhaps) as well as 'being' (maintenance, perhaps)" (9). …
This paper argues that John Updike’s Terrorist – as also The Coup--, antagonizes and misrepresent... more This paper argues that John Updike’s Terrorist – as also The Coup--, antagonizes and misrepresents Islam as a violent, anti-woman and fanciful religion, by selectively quoting Qur’anic verses out of context. The study classifies and contextualizes Updike's discriminately quoted Qur’anic verses according to the pre-mentioned three-fold pattern and recruits a postcolonial frame to situate Updike's anti-Islam ideology and style. It turns out that Updike’s selective quoting from the Qur’an is a vicious strategy which ignores the context of the quoted verses and overlooks the many verses which refute his anti-Islam claims. That is, Terrorist belongs to Islamophobic literature and neo-colonialism and Updike is an extremist apostle of both.
ABSTRACT The literary reputation of Griselda Gambaro and her masterpieces The Walls, Information ... more ABSTRACT The literary reputation of Griselda Gambaro and her masterpieces The Walls, Information for Foreigners, and Antigona Furiosa remain an interest in studies of modern Latin American drama. The playwright and her dramas still draw scholars’ attention as they deal with political issues and disputes derived from modern Argentinean history during the military coups and the period of the Dirty War (1976-83), and the consequences—whether social, psychological, representational, and/or ethical-- that were caused by these clashes. Indeed, not only is Gambaro privileged in dramatizing subjects like violence and sexuality that capture her spectators’ interests, but she is also distinguished in the way she utilizes staging in effectively dramatizing these topics. This paper aims at exploring Gambaro’s techniques of staging violence and sexuality in the aforementioned plays, in the light of the feminist politics of location. In particular, the examination targets Gambaro’s recruitment of a signifying code of space, along with notions of absence and presence, altogether comprising a feminist issue of location and power, as argued by major feminist critics such as Virginia Woolf, Adrienne Rich, Elaine Showalter, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar. Keywords: Griselda Gambaro; Latin American Drama; Feminism; Theater; Violence.Résumé: La réputation littéraire de Griselda Gambaro et ses chefs-d'œuvre Les Murs, Information pour les étrangers, et Antigona Furiosa restent un intérêt pour les études de théâtre moderne d'Amérique latine. Le dramaturge et ses drames attirent encore l'attention des chercheurs car ils traitent des questions politiques et des conflits issus de l'histoire argentine moderne au cours des coups d'État militaires et de la période de la Guerre Sale (1976-83), et les conséquences, qu'elles soit sociales, psychologiques, figuratives, et / ou éthiques - ont été causées par ces affrontements. En effet, non seulement Gambaro a privilégié dans la dramatisation des sujets comme la violence et la sexualité qui captent les intérêts de ses spectateurs, mais elle se distingue aussi dans la façon dont elle utilise la mise en scène efficace de dramatiser ces sujets. Le présent document vise à explorer les techniques de mise en scène de la violence et la sexualité de Gambaro dans les pièces mentionnées ci-dessus, à la lumière de la politique féministe de l'emplacement. En particulier, l'étude se concentre sur l'utilisation d'un code symbolique de l'espace chez Gambaro, avec les notions d'absence et de présence, tout en comportant une question féministe de l'emplacement et de la puissance, comme l'a soutenue par les principaux critiques féministes, comme Virginia Woolf, Adrienne Rich, Elaine Showalter, Gilbert Sandra et Gubar Susan.Mots-clés: Griselda Gambaro; drame d’amérique latine; féminisme; théâtre; violence
Abstract: This paper examines a cross-cultural concern in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, underlin... more Abstract: This paper examines a cross-cultural concern in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, underlining the story’s striking allusions to Islam which can be categorically seen in the following five aspects: the symbolic black-box, stoning, the status of women, the fixed annual date(s) of the lottery, and the act of calling the participants in the lottery five times (calls), in addition to further points regarding characterization and scapegoat. It turns out that The Lottery is a carefully-woven complexity of symbols allegorizing Islam. Above all, Jackson’s symbolic black box shares a great deal of the distinctions of the Ka’ba and the Black Stone and the brutal ancient rite she recruits echoes the two aspects of stoning in Islamic Hajj and Islam’s penal law regarding adultery. Besides, the annual dates of the lottery reflect on annual rituals in Islam, with additional significance of the twenty-seventh (and twenty-sixth) day of the month. Further, the status of Jackson’s women perhaps ...
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