Chapter III
Taboos and Embargoes: Retelling Taboos and Embargoes of Homeland’s Stories in Diaspora
Chapter Three: Taboos and Embargoes: Retelling Taboos and Embargoes of Homeland’s Stories in Diaspora
Your memories are photographs: black and white on my desk like my stories that I carry with me everyday with the turquoise ring you gave me at birth to ward off evil
(Halaby “Handfuls of wind” 46-7)
The above quoted poetic extract indicates to the importance of ancestral stories of homeland in the American diaspora. These tales are regarded as fuel to the diasporic Arab-American spirits. Retelling homeland’s stories is a turning point in the cultural, political, social, and spiritual consciousness and identity of Arab-Americans. Throughout this project, Arab-Americans pass three stages of identity crisis; firstly, they are in a keen search for their roots (problem determination), secondly, they willingly acknowledge and accept their limited edition of human experience of hyphenated cultural identity. Consequently, they are trying to bridge the cultural gap between two different cultural frames (recognition and acknowledgement). Finally, they …show more content…
She “owned a textile factory on Grove Street, was also a founding member of the Lebanese-Syrian Ladies’ Aid Society, which was founded in 1917” (Groves 1). Her autobiographical book may document the gradual alteration among first and second generation of children of immigrants, and Remember me to Lebanon: Stories of Lebanese Women in America (2007), won the Arab American National Book Award for adult fiction (2008). In an interview with Bryan Marquard, Shakir discusses the sever marginalization of Arab-Americans within the American community. Estranging Arabs from the American social community was her inspiration and motivation to document Arab literary heritage and to spot light on this underrepresented group, Shakir
Taboos and Embargoes: Retelling Taboos and Embargoes of Homeland’s Stories in Diaspora
Chapter Three: Taboos and Embargoes: Retelling Taboos and Embargoes of Homeland’s Stories in Diaspora
Your memories are photographs: black and white on my desk like my stories that I carry with me everyday with the turquoise ring you gave me at birth to ward off evil
(Halaby “Handfuls of wind” 46-7)
The above quoted poetic extract indicates to the importance of ancestral stories of homeland in the American diaspora. These tales are regarded as fuel to the diasporic Arab-American spirits. Retelling homeland’s stories is a turning point in the cultural, political, social, and spiritual consciousness and identity of Arab-Americans. Throughout this project, Arab-Americans pass three stages of identity crisis; firstly, they are in a keen search for their roots (problem determination), secondly, they willingly acknowledge and accept their limited edition of human experience of hyphenated cultural identity. Consequently, they are trying to bridge the cultural gap between two different cultural frames (recognition and acknowledgement). Finally, they …show more content…
She “owned a textile factory on Grove Street, was also a founding member of the Lebanese-Syrian Ladies’ Aid Society, which was founded in 1917” (Groves 1). Her autobiographical book may document the gradual alteration among first and second generation of children of immigrants, and Remember me to Lebanon: Stories of Lebanese Women in America (2007), won the Arab American National Book Award for adult fiction (2008). In an interview with Bryan Marquard, Shakir discusses the sever marginalization of Arab-Americans within the American community. Estranging Arabs from the American social community was her inspiration and motivation to document Arab literary heritage and to spot light on this underrepresented group, Shakir