Noran Shalby’s (‘20) Guide to Arab-American Literature
The history of Arab-American literature in the United States traces back to the early twentieth century, but it is only in the past decade that is has been recognized as an essential element of American literature’s cultural composition. As a cultural subcategory, Arab-American literature is rich with global insight and intuitively intimate to the ethnic identity of the Arab people. Though Arab-Americans are a demographic minority in the United States, their individual and collective experiences as immigrants, as students, as workers, as citizens, and as denominators in the American racial dichotomy are inextricable from the American identity. Arab-American literature’s importance is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that is an oasis in the wasteland of media misrepresentation of Arabs and the Arab experience in Western society. Literature, in its most general sense, is inherently a cultural platform. To an American audience, the cultural essence of classic and modern American literature remains unrealized because of the reader’s cultural compatibility with the works they are engaging with. However, every literary work is inevitably informed by an array cultural values, attitudes, and biases which profoundly shape the lens from which its readers perceive their world. Literature fosters a unique sort of empathy, in that it provides insights that challenge the preconceived ideologies and surface-level Western comprehension of rich foreign traditions and invites readers to engage emotionally and intellectually with these works of prose. Thus it becomes essential to engage with a diverse range of culturally specific books in order to reassess our own cultural biases and participate in a broader global discourse. In celebration of Arab-American Heritage Month, here is a selection of some of my favorite Arab-American works of literature.
Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua “I want to be like them. Free, loose, full of dreams, able to think about love. . . them, who felt no need to apologize for their existence, no need to hide their identity. To feel like I belong, without feeling guilty or disloyal.”
This compelling tale of loyalty, sacrifice, passion, and trust grapples with the notions of whether shedding our old skin can truly enable us to start anew, whether total reinvention can help us eliminate our prejudices and expand the lens from which we perceive our world and experience the human condition. Second Person Singular interweaves two overlapping narratives throughout the novel, one of a successful Arab lawyer and the other of a struggling Jerusalemite social-worker-cum-photographer. The novel explores a lesser known aspect of the Arab-Israeli experience: the assimilation of persons of Arab origins into Israeli society, particularly the cultural and religious disparities that conflict Arabs struggling to merge with practices, mindsets, and traditions almost entirely foreign to them. Kashua’s observations of the Arab experience in Israel engage even his most uninformed readers on current Arab-Israeli relations and the historical tension between the two groups - both of which prevail divisively in the cultural concurrence that is Jerusalem and inevitably result in the alienation of the many Arab individuals who see refuge in the holy city. A Palestinian well-versed in the complexities of racial and colonial paradigms, Sayed Kashua thoroughly discusses what it means to grapple with one’s identity in a foreign society and how we can learn to coexist peacefully with one another even amidst our insurmountably many cultural differences.
West of the Jordan by Laila Halaby “Cross the ocean, Abu Saud whispered, and take with you what you have learned, what you have seen, and the tastes that have nourished you, and please, do not forget us.”
West of the Jordan is a refreshing narrative that warmly invites its audience into the rich world of Arab folklore. It follows the loosely interrelated stories of four cousins in a Palestinian-Jordanian family inexorably bound together by the Arab-American experience. Through their individual accounts, the reader becomes familiarized with the sociopolitical implications as well as the profoundly personal reality of life as an Arab in the vibrant and often perplexing society of America. Each narrator is her own witness into the rich history of her family and village. The stories of their pasts are illustrated through a series of anecdotes that recount the experiences of those who came before them, bringing the seeds of their homes and cultures to plant in the garden they dreamed would await them in the United States. In weaving traditional Arab folklore into each narrative, Laila Halaby draws parallels as well as amplifies the disparity between the two worlds her narrators are caught between. She inquires of her readers to consider whether life in urban oases like San Francisco, California or Tucson, Arizona cause us to lose touch with our origins or propel us to grasp them even more tightly.
I, the Divine by Rabih Alameddine “I have been blessed with many curses in my life, not the least of which was being born half-Lebanese and half-American. Throughout my life, these contradictory parts battled endlessly, clashed, never coming to a satisfactory conclusion.”
I, the Divine skillfully explores the importance of telling your own story. When Sarah Nour El-Din’s voice is threatened by her hybrid family, many failed relationships, and conservative society, she battles to reclaim her right to speak her mind and empower socially restricted women like herself. By gaining solace from her self-imposed exile in the United States, Sarah becomes drawn to the world of innumerably many second chances and the liberty of defining her own person. Sarah grasps ahold of every opportunity she has to reimagine herself, reclaiming her dignity and identity by fostering relationships with people she had never even envisaged to encounter. Laila Halaby’s skillful examination of the gender and racial dynamics of American society provide a platform for Sarah to reevaluate the notions she has internalized throughout her life, as well as represent her Arab identity in a manner that complies with her personal values and attributes to her the incredible capacity she’s harbored throughout her life. A resilient spirit, Sarah escapes the confinement of her past and braves through a new future. I, the Divine proves how a woman’s tongue is her most powerful weapon and how, in the narrative of life, there are no endings - only new beginnings.
The Book of Khalid by Amin Rihani “An object is great in proportion to its power of resistance to time and the elements. That is why we think the pyramids are great. But see, the desert is greater than the pyramids, and the sea is greater than the desert, and the heavens are greater than the sea. And yet, there is not in all these that immortal intelligence, that living palpitating soul, which you find in a great book. So is not a book greater than a pyramid, greater than anything and everything at all?”
The Book of Khalid is a brilliant concoction of classic Arab literature and Western prose. It follows the story of two young Lebanese men and their journey to the United States to seek what they hoped would be undiscovered fortune. Together, they brave through the struggles as poster poor immigrants - passage by ship, arrival at Ellis Island, and the strife of poverty in the wealthiest nation on Earth. Khalid, captivated by his ideal of the Western world and the possibilities it holds for him, seeks out the cultural and political richness of New York City, much to his desolation when he realizes the lustful fantasy he fabricated of the United States is solely that. Heartbroken and hopeless, Khalid and Shakhib return to Lebanon, but now with heads filled with New World ideas. Aggravated by the primitiveness of their people, Khalid and Shakhib preach their newly adopted Western ideals of civil liberty and religious unity, but only to the indignation of the Lebanese mob who believe they’re imposing upon them a new religion. The Book of Khalid is a comical illustration of what it means to become a foreigner in your own society after being exposed to cultures and values which conflict with your own. Rihani brilliantly illustrates the process required to become your most authentic self and express that self even as others relentlessly dissent.
19 Varieties of Gazelle by Naomi Shihab Nye “Answer, if you hear the words under the words - otherwise it is just a world with a lot of rough edges, difficult to get through, and our pockets full of stones.”
19 Varieties of Gazelle is a poetry collection composed of Naomi Shihab Nye’s observations of the Middle East from childhood to adulthood. Her work is prime attempt to revive the literary and cultural spirit of her home through artistic expression. Nye explores the many dimensions of the Arab experience, from a childhood spent idling away under a fig tree, to the innumerable anecdotes and life lessons she’s acquired from her grandparents. Her imagery and use of literary devices to relay some of the more abstract nuances of Arab culture is incomparable in its originality. Nye’s poetry investigates the power of language in crafting a complete narrative of one’s personhood, especially when it is characterized by such rich literary and cultural traditions. Her poetry masterfully embodies the methods by which individuals can utilize poetry to preserve their histories and learn to live more holistically, utilizing the lessons of their past to guide them towards a new future. If you enjoyed this selection, please consider checking out some of these other Arab-American works:
Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber
Loom by Theresa Soukar-Chehade
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
