Naomi Nye Identity Analysis
The Discovery of the Self Naomi Nye’s Works
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the self and identity in the works of Naomi Nye, and to examine the popular culture representations of Arabs as terrorist. After the September 11, 2001 attack, more and more disappointment, frustration and curiosity towards Islam and Muslims have aroused amongst Americans. Part of Naomi Nye's political statement lies in her attempts to change the American mainstream perception of Arabs by providing readers with images of Arabs whom she knows and loves, for love lies at the core of her works. She addresses the issue of Arab identity in America and the concomitant connection with terrorism; her works are her representation of the identity crisis of Arab-Americans as an ethnic minority uniting two allegedly hegemonic cultures, Eastern and Western. Nye gives voice to her experience as an Arab-American through poems about heritage and peace that overflow with a humanitarian spirit. Her experience of both cultural difference and different cultures has influenced much of her work. This …show more content…
Many do not even perceive anti-Arab racism as a problem. Educators who have not yet been alerted to this issue and are unaware of the potential harm being done are themselves part of the problem.
Arab- American young people consciously reclaim their ethnic identity. Lisa Suhair Majaj, a Palestinian observed, “Once I claimed a past, spoke my history, told my name, the walls of incomprehension and hostility rose, brick by brick: un-funny ethnic jokes; jibes about terrorists and Kalashnikovs, and about veiled women and camels; or worse, the awkward silences, the hasty shifts to other subjects. Searching for images of my Arab self in American culture I found only unrecognizable stereotypes. In the face of such incomprehension I could say nothing”
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the self and identity in the works of Naomi Nye, and to examine the popular culture representations of Arabs as terrorist. After the September 11, 2001 attack, more and more disappointment, frustration and curiosity towards Islam and Muslims have aroused amongst Americans. Part of Naomi Nye's political statement lies in her attempts to change the American mainstream perception of Arabs by providing readers with images of Arabs whom she knows and loves, for love lies at the core of her works. She addresses the issue of Arab identity in America and the concomitant connection with terrorism; her works are her representation of the identity crisis of Arab-Americans as an ethnic minority uniting two allegedly hegemonic cultures, Eastern and Western. Nye gives voice to her experience as an Arab-American through poems about heritage and peace that overflow with a humanitarian spirit. Her experience of both cultural difference and different cultures has influenced much of her work. This …show more content…
Many do not even perceive anti-Arab racism as a problem. Educators who have not yet been alerted to this issue and are unaware of the potential harm being done are themselves part of the problem.
Arab- American young people consciously reclaim their ethnic identity. Lisa Suhair Majaj, a Palestinian observed, “Once I claimed a past, spoke my history, told my name, the walls of incomprehension and hostility rose, brick by brick: un-funny ethnic jokes; jibes about terrorists and Kalashnikovs, and about veiled women and camels; or worse, the awkward silences, the hasty shifts to other subjects. Searching for images of my Arab self in American culture I found only unrecognizable stereotypes. In the face of such incomprehension I could say nothing”