Abstract
Very little has been written on cultural identity and national identity in contemporary Lebanese novel in the diaspora. This study explores how border identity is presented in Rabih Alameddine's Koolaids (1998), I, the Divine (2001), and The Angel of History (2016), three novels about the failure of the Lebanese immigrants to establish their cultural identity in the diaspora. It also gives a bird's-eye view of the myriad problems encountered by the immigrants while trying to build their cultural identity. Rabih Alameddine, a Lebanese American writer whose early literary pursuits focus on melting in the new homeland, represents the impossibility of redefinition and introduces the immigrants' remarkable preoccupation with the quest for national identity and nationhood. He mixes melancholic and ridiculous moments to represent the quest for cultural identity in order to subvert the neo-orientalist discourse which is based on the East/West dichotomy. Moreover, the use of multiple settings and narrators in each novel is also a common theme that explains the physical and psychological effects of the Lebanese civil war and the Lebanese ethnic categories in the diaspora.
Highlights
Arab diaspora in the U.S.The United States has historically been one of the major destinations for Arab waves of immigration
The term Arab diaspora in the United States refers to Arab immigrants and their descendants who ethnically belong to the Arab-speaking countries stretching from Arabian Gulf to Morocco; a region that comprises 22 countries
The novels examined in this study show a similar experience of identity crisis among Lebanese characters, supporting theories of identity in borderline
Summary
Arab diaspora in the U.S.The United States has historically been one of the major destinations for Arab waves of immigration. According to the 2010 U.S census, the population of the Arab-American community reached 1,6 million; 83 percent of this community is American citizens (Census Bureau, 2010). This ethnic community is largely composed of five major groups of immigrants including Lebanese 40%, Syrians 15%, Egyptians 12%, Palestinians 6%, and Iraqis 3%. According to the 2010 United States Census Bureau report, the population of the Lebanese community ranks first among Arabs with a population of 504,000, Egyptian American group is 170,000, Syrian American group is 190,000, Palestinian American group is 104,000, Iraqis are 101,000. Minor Arab American groups belonging to other countries such as Yemen, Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Gulf countries, and Sudan constitute a considerable fraction estimated at 500,000
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