Abstract

Misrepresentation of the Other: A Postcolonial Study in Selected Arab and American Novels

Ibraheem Ajeel Dakhil, Longhai Zhang

Volume: 11 Issue: 4 2021

Abstract:

The paper sheds light on one of the important concepts in contemporary literature which tackles the representation of the Other in selected Arabic and American literary products. The representation of the other holds many misrepresentations and stereotypes, both varying and fixed; as such, the study of the literary representations of the other which comes as a remedy many fixed and prevalent frameworks between the self and the other which deals with the construction of an individual on cultural, political and social levels. The study tackles a topic of great importance for contemporary literary studies and critiques, especially at the level of national literature. The research aims to discuss how Arab writers envision the concept of the Other, on one hand; and it argues how American writers projects the concept in their novels, on the other hand. It also gives an insight about Arabs and Americans viewing the term the self and other or utilize the term Imagology which is very significant because it differentiates between the Oriental and Western points of view. The paper is restricted to argue the representation of the other in these four novels. Finally, the research ends up with conclusion and recommendations for further researches.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.37648/ijrssh.v11i04.020

Back Download

References

• Pageaux, Daniel-Henri. General and Compared literature. Iasi: Polirom,2000
• Goody, Jack. The East in the West. Cambridge University Press,1996
• Updike, John. Terrorist: a Novel. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2012.
• Leerssen, Joep.Imagology :History and Method .UK.2007.
• Ghonemi, Mohammad.Comparative literature.Lebanon: Alawda publication.2000.
• Hamood, Majeda.The other’s image in the Arab tradition.Algeria.2010.
• Kadhem, Nagm Abdallah. Contemporary Arab Literature and the Other: Comparative Literary Studies, Irbid , Modern World Book,2009.
• Abood,Abdah. A comparative literature, a theoretical access and practical studies. Homs: Al-Bath University.1991.
• Saifeddine, Ahmad. Image of the European Woman in Shakib Al Jabiri Novels, University of Damascus Journal; Volume 18, Issue 1, 2002: 5.
• Tarabichi, Georges. Orient and West Masculinity and Femininity: A Study in The Crisis of Sex and Civilization in Arab novel. Beirut: Dar Tali'ah ,1977
• Ṣāliḥ Ṭayeb, et al. Season of Migration to the North. Review Books, 2009.
• Bart, John. The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor: a Novel. Dalkey Archive Press, 2016.
• Hammoud, Majida.The Problem of the Self and the Other: Models of Arab Literature. Kuwait: NCCAL,2013.
• Al-Manasrah, Izz al-Din. Edward Said… and Cultural Comparative Criticism.Fosool Journal, 64 Summer 2004
• AlBazei, Saad. Al-Arab men Zawiyat Amreeka (7) Irhabi Updike [Arabs from an American Perspective, (7) Updike’s Terrorist], Al-Majalla al-Thaqafiya, Issue 172, Monday, September 25th, 2006.
• Baeshen, Lamyaa. Al-Arab ‘Ala Al-Janeb Al-Akhar Men Al-Bahr: Nahna wa Hum fee Alriwaya al-Gharbiya [Arabs on the Other Side of the Ocean: Them and Us in the Western Novel]. Al-Majalla Al-Thaqafiyya, Volume 208, 2007
• Al-Abadi, Ibrahim.Muslim Minorities in the West: The Problem of Coexistence and Integration – Sweden as a Model.Baghdad:Falsafat Al-Din Center,2010.
• Said, Edward W. Covering Islam How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World. Vintage Books, 2010.
• Lewis, Bernard. The Roots of Muslim Rage. The Atlantic, September 1990
• Lewis, Bernard and Said, Edward. Al-Islam Al-Usuli fee Wasa’el Al-I’lam Al-Gharbiyya men Wijhat Nadhar Amreekiya [Fundamentalist Islam from the Perspective of Western Media, from an American Perspective]. Dar Al-Jeel, 1994.
• Arkoun, Mohammad. Al-Islâm, Urubbâ, wal-Gharb [Islam, Europe and the West]. Dâr al-Sâqî, 1995
• Lewis, Bernard and Said, Edward .Fundamentalist Islam in the Western media from an American perspective. Beirut: Dar Al-Geel,1949.
• Munīf ʻAbd al-Raḥmān. Variations on Night and Day. Vintage Books, 1994.
• Munif, Abdul Rahman. Quintet Salt Cities. Beirut:Arabic institution for studies and publication .2008.
• Gouldner, Alvin Ward. The Coming Crisis of Western Sociology. Heinemann, 1977.
• Ebrahim, Saleh.Crisis of Arab Civilization in Abdelrahman Munif’s Literature. Arabic Cultural Center,2014.
• Ruwaili, Meejan and Al-Bazei, Saad. Daleel Al-Naqed Al-Adabi [The Guide for the Literary Critic].Arab Cultural Center,2005.
• Pelto, Pertti J., and Gretel H. Pelto. Anthropological Research: the Structure of Inquiry. Cambridge University Press, 1987.
• Koch, Dennis The Concept of Culture in Sociology.trans: Munir Al-Saeedani,Beriut: Arab Unit Studies Center,2007
• Said, Edward W. Orientalism. W. Ross MacDonald School, Resource Services Library, 2006.