MASCULINITIES IN MUSLIM WOMEN`S POST-9/11 NOVELS: MEN IN THE NIGHT COUNTER AND SAFFRON DREAMS

Abstract

This article explores the representation of masculinities in Alia Yunis’ The Night Counter and Shaila Abdullah`s Saffron Dreams. The two novels I examine represent Arab-American and Pakistani-American Muslim masculinities in the post-9/11 context. In the first part, I provide an overview of research on Arab, Arab-American, Muslim, Pakistani and Pakistani-American masculinities after defining the key terms. In the rest of the paper, I trace the representations of masculinities in the two novels. Yunis redeems Arab manhoods by underscoring diversity in Arab-American masculinities whereas Abdullah erects a metaphorical monument for a young Pakistani-American man who loses his life during the attacks on the World Trade Center, thereby arguing that some Muslim men were innocent victims of the attack.