Representation of Problems or Problematic Representation: Three Middle Eastern American Plays

Abstract

Several theatric performances have explored the consequences of ‘war on terror’ after 9/11 all over the world. This paper provides insights into how Middle Eastern American dramatists and characters responded to the war and above it to post-9/11 era via exploring how Middle Easterners in American context were stereotyped, transformed into problematic subjects, resisted backlashing policies, and to what extent their lives were influenced by fallout effects of the event by reading between the lines according to Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial concepts, however, there is no direct reference to the event in three dramas namely Browntown, Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, and Nine Parts of Desire. This paper argues for the necessity of understanding and recognizing hyphenated people in mainstream context and approaching the problem in terms of negotiation instead of negation of hyphenated identities to avoid potential identity problems which may lead to social problems. It calls the dramatists for artistic productions to claim recognition of their identity and correcting the distorted images to prevent their transformation into problematic realms.