Crossing the Border: Arab-American Literature and the Politics of Exclusion

Abstract

Abstract 
 This paper attempts to trace the development of Arab-American literary tradition through three distinct generations—each of which responds quite differently to the identity politics, cultural hybridity, subversion of orientalist gaze, and the crisis of belonging amidst the inevitable multifacetedness of the Arab-American community. The literary works of the contemporary Arab-American writers are engaged with the idea of the American landscape as a long-term rather than a provisional home. In other words, this new generation of writers manages to hover over the divide between the two cultures and view the Arab world from the American soil. The paper finally approaches the Post-9/11 Arab-American novel in terms of receptiveness, characteristics, challenges, and future outlook. I argue that for the contemporary Arab-American novel to flourish, the integration of Arab experience into the American fabric, in the sense that themes and subject matters related to both sides of the hyphen, should be acknowledged as a cultural necessity. Ironically, this is the best way for Arab-American novelists to bring their distinct voices to the multi-vocal mainstream culture, to carve a niche for themselves. The useful analogy is the literary cultural expressions and experiences of the Asian, African or Canadian communities on the American soil; they are distinct, but not different from the cultural traditions of other diaspora communities. 
 Keywords: Arab-American, Cultural Hybridity, Identity Politics, Post-/911 Novel, Neo-Orientalism.