Modern Arab American Fiction: A Reader's Guide

165 Pages·2011·1.081 MB·English

by  Steven Salaita

Modern Arab American Fiction
Arab American Writing
Other titles in Arab American Writing
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Loom: A Novel
Thérèse Soukar Chehade
Love Is Like Water and Other Stories
Samia Serageldin
Th e Man Who Guarded the Bomb: Stories
Gregory Orfalea
Th e New Belly Dancer of the Galaxy: A Novel
Frances Khirallah Noble
Remember Me to Lebanon: Stories of Lebanese Women in America
Evelyn Shakir
Swimming Toward the Light: A Novel
Angela Tehaan Leone
Th rough and Th rough: Toledo Stories, 2d ed.
Joseph Geha
M O D E R N

A R A B A M E R I C A N
F I C T I O N
A Reader’s Guide

S T E V E N
S A L A I T A
Syracuse University Press
Mohamad El-Hindi Books on Arab Culture and Islamic Civilization are published with the assistance of a grant
from the M.E.H. Foundation.
Copyright © 2011 by Syracuse University Press
Syracuse, New York 13244-5290
All Rights Reserved
First Edition 2011
11 12 13 14 15 16 6 5 4 3 2 1
∞ Th e paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard
for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press,
visit our Web site at SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu.
ISBN: 978-0-8156-3277-1 (cloth)
ISBN: 978-0-8156-3253-5 (paper)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Salaita, Steven, 1975–
Modern Arab American fi ction : a reader’s guide / Steven Salaita. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Arab American writing)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8156-3277-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8156-3253-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. American fi ction—Arab American authors—History and criticism. 2. American fi ction—
20th century—History and criticism. 3. Arab Americans in literature.
4. Arabs in literature. I. Title.
PS153.A73S33 2011
813'.54098927—dc22 2010052845
Manufactured in the United States of America
Steven Salaita is an associate professor of English at Virginia Tech. His other
books include Anti-Arab Racism in the USA: Where It Comes from and What It
Means for Politics Today; Arab American Literary Fictions, Culture, and Politics;
and Th e Holy Land in Transit (Syracuse University Press, 2006).

Contents
1. Introduction
1
2. Uses of the Lebanese Civil War in Arab American Fiction:

Etel Adnan, Rawi Hage, Patricia Sarrafi an Ward 11
3. Exploring Islam(s) in America:
Mohja Kahf 32
4. Sex, Violence, and Storytelling:
Rabih Alameddine 42
5. The Eternity of Immigration:
Arab American Short Story
Collections (Joseph Geha, Frances Khirallah Noble,
Evelyn Shakir, Susan Muaddi Darraj) 60
6. Promised Lands and Unfulfi lled Promises:
Laila Halaby 79
7. Crescent Moons, Jazz Music, and Feral Ethnicity:

Diana Abu-Jaber 96
8. From the Maghreb to the American Mainstream:

Writers of North African Origin (Anouar Majid,
Laila Lalami, Samia Serageldin) 112
9. Potpourri:
Alicia Erian, Randa Jarrar, Susan Abulhawa 125
Notes
143
viii | c on t e n t s
Suggestions for Further Reading
147
Bibliography
151
Index
153
Modern Arab American Fiction