Aging Men in Contemporary Arab American Literature Written by Women

Abstract

Catherine B. Silver claims that “The loss of socioeconomic power and social status of older/retired individuals, especially men, has created a social arena where patriarchal rules and gender-based expectations have been weakened, creating conditions for altered identities” (381). Taking this quote as a starting point, the present chapter will analyze contemporary representations of Arab (American) men from a gerontological studies perspective. It will delve into the particular case of Arab immigrants to the United States to examine the specific relationships depicted between daughters, granddaughters, and elderly men in a situation of displacement, as portrayed in Arab American literature written by women. To do so, it will analyze the family dynamics and treatment of aging men in contemporary novels such as Diana Abu-Jaber’s Arabian Jazz (1993), Naomi Shihab Nye’s Going Going (2005), and Alia Yunis’s The Night Counter (2009).