Arab American Novels Post-9/11 - Classical Storytelling Motifs Against Outsidership. Dissertationsschrift

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.

Summary

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.

Product details

• Authors: Marie-Christin Sawires-Masseli
• Publisher: Universitätsverlag Winter
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.01.2018
• EAN: 9783825369217
• ISBN: 978-3-8253-6921-7
• No. of pages: 301
• Dimensions: 143 mm x 217 mm x 23 mm
• Weight: 454 g
• Series: American Studies / A Monograph Series; American Studies; American Studies / A Monograph Series
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; Religion, Englisch, Homosexualität, Amerikanische Literatur, Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika, USA, Englische Literatur Amerikas, Erzählen, Immigration, Tausendundeine Nacht, nine eleven, gesellschaftliche Außenseiter, arabisch-amerikanische Literatur, Alamneddine, Rabih, arabische Erzähltradition, Abu-Jaber, Diana, arabische Erzählmotive, Halaby, Laila, arabische Fabeln, Yunis, Alia