Identity

Mahmoud Dervesh and The Palestinian Resistance: A Study of His Selected Works (Published)

Palestinian poet Mahmoud Dervesh (1941-2008) also called “the Poet of the Resistance” wrote poems of resistance integral to every Arab’s consciousness which includes 30 poetry and prose collections, translated into 35 languages, making everybody hear about his love of his usurped homeland. His  poetic works such as Olive Leaves (1964), A Lover from Palestine (1966), Siege for the Praises of the Sea (1984) and Why Have you Left the Horse Alone (1995) have largely defined the Palestinian resistance. In 1997 a documentary was produced about him by French TV directed by noted French-Israeli director Simone Bitton. Darvesh is the recipient of many international literary awards including the Lotus prize in 1969, the Lenin prize in 1983, France’s highest medal as Knight of Arts and Belles Lettres in 1997 and the Moroccan Wissam of intellectual merit was handed to him by King Mohammad VI of Morocco. In 2001, he won the Lannan prize, a prize which recognizes people whose extraordinary and courageous work celebrates the human right to freedom, of imagination, inquiry, and expression for cultural freedom. Dervesh was a member of the Executive Committee of the PLO and as a result of his political activism, faced house arrest and imprisonment. He was also the editor in chief and founder of the prestigious literary review Al Karmel.

Keywords: Diaspora, Eden, Identity, Palestine, Refugee, Resistance, Zionist., dervish, exile., intifada

Universal Pro-Human Message Expressed in Diana Abu-Jaber’s Crescent (Published)

This paper attempts to tackle the most important humanistic themes dealt with in Diana Abu-Jaber`s novel Crescent (2003). The novel explores universal human themes connected with exile and the quest for identity. The story of Crescent is the story of the whole Arab immigrants living in exile. The novel revolves around a multi-cultural love story between an Iraqi man expelled out of his country and an Iraqi immigrant chef named Sirine. Diana highlights in the novel the painful feelings of people who leave their countries and live in exile. In many places, she refers to the sufferings of immigrants and what may occur to them in the countries they settle in. She further laments the real loss of depressed and frustrated people who are forced to leave their homelands. The writer`s prime focus on the humanistic, innovative, and compassionate aspects of Arab and Muslim culture is a proactive denouncement against the stereotyping viewpoints by which the majority of American people perceive refugees from middle-eastern countries. This biased view permitted the US government to rule the country over several years of military conflicts, binding force, and unattained human rights in Iraq with hardly any popular resistance. The researcher employs a critical and analytical approach in discussing the themes of the novel. This paper reveals the aesthetic dimensions in the story as realistic, romantic, and symbolic trends and how the writer combines them successfully to enhance the theme of human interaction within different ethnic groups.

Keywords: Culture, Identity, Immigrants, Middle East, crescent, exile.

Transcultural libanité in Amin Maalouf’s Origines (Published)

This article critically engages with Amin Maalouf’s novel Origines (2004). By drawing implicitly on Mikhail Epstein’s theory of transculture, I intend to explore the libanité paradigm, and to examine how it shapes the view of the Lebanese subject towards the West. By libanité, I refer to the religious and political elements that are central in defining Lebanese ethnic identity.  I argue that within the Lebanese context, the transcultural process is not limited to immigrant characters who live in the West, but also it emerges in subjects who decide not to leave their homeland. What distinguishes this paper is its analysis of the relaxed, nomadic attitude adopted by characters when faced with issues linked to cultural allegiance. They appear to be ‘in place’ and ‘out of place’ whether they stay in Lebanon or decide to be geographically dislocated to a Western country. Furthermore, the main country of destination discussed in this novel is Cuba, which history has been mainly examined on the experiences of the Atlantic Slave Trade, and its impact on the Caribbean society. In terms of migration, therefore, very little investigation exists on the early 20th century Arab migration into Cuba. Maalouf’s Origines gives voice to Arabs to speak about their experience with the new island. On a larger scale, this introduces a new dimension to the study of minority communities from Muslim-majority Eastern regions who reside in the Caribbean societies today. This is a salient issue in the islands to develop further their cultural diversity. 

Keywords: Identity, Migration, history, maalouf, transculture

Ideology and Identity: Operating Together (Published)

Ideology and identity are inevitably ubiquitous in most discourse types. This mere pervasiveness, more precisely in political discourse, is presumably sufficient to generate much debate as to whether ideology and identity find their locus in context or in other constructs. In view of this, this paper’s main focus is manifold. It attempts to study Biden’s discourse (selected tweets) within a critical discourse analysis framework while deploying a qualitative method of analysis. Approaching this discourse genre from the latter perspective aims at identifying how both concepts interact to generate a better understanding of discourse. To dismantle the way meaning is construed, some discourse strategies (van Dijk, 2004) like the presentation of the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ are to be studied within context. Results show that Biden’s discourse is ideological and thus mirrors common identity goals. Moreover, positive self-presentation has been dominant in a daunting situation where most messages were purposefully rallying for all Americans.

Citation: Abidi Hajer (2021) Ideology and Identity: Operating Together, European Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, Vol.9, No.7, pp.39-48

Keywords: Discourse, Identity, Ideology, Messages, self-presentation

Postcolonial Feminism’s Reinscription of Diasporic Female Identity (Published)

The current article studies a fictional South Asian female character in diasporic space by arguing that it is vital to consider her racial, cultural and historical orientation to understand the struggle in carving an identity in the host culture. Postcolonial feminist theory forms the background of this work. The locus of the main argument of this article is how Rakhi, the main character of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel Queen of Dreams, dealing with her inner conflict between tradition and culture, develops as a South Asian American in the mainstream US society. Understanding herself as a postcolonial subject enables her to assimilate the fractured parts of her being towards the end of the novel.

Keywords: Identity, Postcolonial feminism, Racial, cultural and historical differences

Influence of Learning English on Identity Switch among Senior Secondary School Students in Owerri Zone, Imo State, Nigeria (Published)

This study investigated the influence of learning English on identity switch among senior secondary school students in Owerri zone, Imo State Nigeria. Data for the study were collected by means of a structured and pre-tested questionnaire based on Likert 5-point ratings. The data were analyzed by using Mann-Whitney method of estimating mean scores. Results showed that students are more elated using English in their communications than Igbo, their first language (L1). Findings showed that the influence of English on the cultural identity of the respondents is such that many feel uncomfortable in the midst of their compatriots who do not speak English. Finally, the study demonstrated that Students learning English in Owerri zone switch their identities to suit the target language. The study recommended that productive bilingualism can serve as an educational objective, where teachers may simultaneously cultivate learners’ intrinsic interest, and positive attitudes and beliefs associated with the target language and culture on one hand, and the native language (Igbo) and culture on the other hand.

Keywords: Culture, Ethnicity, Identity, Learning, Second Language

Influence of Learning English on Identity Switch among Senior Secondary School Students in owerri Zone, Imo State, Nigeria (Published)

This study investigated the influence of learning English on identity switch among senior secondary school students in Owerri zone, Imo State Nigeria. Data for the study were collected by means of a structured and pre-tested questionnaire based on Likert 5-point ratings. The data were analyzed by using Mann-Whitney method of estimating mean scores. Results showed that students are more elated using English in their communications than Igbo, their first language (L1). Findings showed that the influence of English on the cultural identity of the respondents is such that many feel uncomfortable in the midst of their compatriots who do not speak English. Finally, the study demonstrated that Students learning English in Owerri zone switch their identities to suit the target language. The study recommended that productive bilingualism can serve as an educational objective, where teachers may simultaneously cultivate learners’ intrinsic interest, and positive attitudes and beliefs associated with the target language and culture on one hand, and the native language (Igbo) and culture on the other hand.

Keywords: Culture, Ethnicity, Identity, Learning, Second Language

An Unquenchable Search for Home and Identity in Keija Parssinen’s The Ruins of Us (2012) (Published)

Home and identity are challenging words to define. Many fields such as psychology, sociology, philosophy, history, literature, and political science have tried to provide an understanding of these two words. This paper is an attempt to examine these two concepts in addition to applying Eugenia Scabini and Claudia Manzi’s concept of ‘family identity’ to Keija Parssinen’s The Ruins of Us (2012). Parssinen is a third-generation expatriate who was born in Saudi Arabia.  Her novel is about an American woman, Rosalie, who has decided to give up her life in America and marry a Saudi man, Abdullah, and move to Saudi Arabia as an attempt to belong. They enjoy a happy life for many years, despite cultural differences, and have two children, Faisal and Mariam. Suddenly, the idea of a cozy home is shattered as Abdullah takes a second wife. The disintegration of this family influences its identity development.

Keywords: Home, Identity, family identity, identity development

The Construction Of Women In Representations of Palestine in Ghassan Kanafani’s Umm Saad (Published)

This essay will argue that the multiplicity of identities is the main feature in the construction of representations of women in Palestine. Moreover; this essay will explore a range of different identities and positions that Palestinian women take on. In order to demonstrate this aim, the paper will contrast and compare the representations of Palestinian women both before and after the Intifada as represented by the male writer Ghassan Kanafani and the female writer Suad Amiry. And will analyse the multiplicity of female identities in the works of Kanafani and Amiry. Two specific texts by Kanafani and Amiry were  chosen  in order to give a more profound analysis – Umm Saad  which represents a Palestinian woman before the Intifada‘ with ’a nationalism that draws as a political movement which challenges the colonial state’’ and Sharon and My Mother-in-Law: Ramallah Diaries that symbolises the Palestinian woman after the Intifada with different kind of nationalism that draws on‘’ a cultural construct which enables the colonial to posit their differences and autonomy’’. The choice of these texts is explained by the fact that they provide the most vivid representations of both the colonial and anti-colonial mentalities of Palestinian women. These texts are also chosen because they clearly reveal a distinction between ‘under occupation literature’ and ‘exile literature”.

 

Keywords: Feminism, Identity, Nationalism, palestinian woman, post-colonialism

Under The Spell of Amazon: Exploring the Structures of Race and Class in John Updike’s Novel Brazil (Published)

This paper is an attempt to examine how John Updike (1932-2009) a prominent American novelist, constructs in Brazil (1994) scenarios that reveal to his readers, moment by moment, the rich complexity of Brazilian race relations. I also seek to point out how Updike sets forth the complicated racial issues in modern-day Brazil through the hardships his two main characters, Tristão and Isabel, undergo. In a way, Updike seeks to identify parallel selves in individuals of other nations; individuals whom one would typically categorize as “Others”. The paper also discusses how Updike attempts to de-emphasize racial differences and suggests that humans are all connected to one another as mixed combinations of color. I argue that in a society where racial identities are not clearly definable and where miscegenation is commonplace, interracial unions are more easily accepted. Updike, however, sees that behind this admixture there is a bias linked to skin color and social class. Meanwhile, I argue that Updike’s text is stronger in his sense of place than his sense of people. In other words, though Updike poses the problems of race and identity, he falls short of that, because the main ideas of the novel—the questions of race and class—are never deeply explored or illuminated.

Keywords: Brazil, Classism, Corruption, Identity, Miscegenation, Racism, Updike