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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August 2006, pages 56-57 Arab-American Activism Arab-American Literature
THE SECOND DAY of the ADC conference featured a discussion panel on Arab-American literature co-sponsored by the Radius of Arab-American Writers Incorporated (RAWI). The panel featured four acclaimed authors who spoke candidly about the mainstream publishing industry and the political and cultural barriers embedded within. Addressing such topics as Arab nationalism, hyphenated identities and the Palestinian struggle for justice, the panelists discussed the variety of ways in which large corporate publishers have kept Arab-American writing marginalized from mass readership and distribution. While Arab-American authors have never faced outright exclusion from the publishing world, Virginia Tech writing professor and panel facilitator Steve Salaita explained, their books tended to be confined to a limited audience, in part because of how the industry chooses to classify them. He noted the inadequacy of “Arab-American writing” as a genre, as “it tends to imply a similarity or cluster of themes.” In order to defeat common stereotypes, therefore, and defend Arab-American literature from becoming, in Salaita’s judgment, “predictable,” he challenged the Arab-American community to themselves promote a more nuanced view of the culture. Indeed, there is no justification for monolithic stereotyping, in particular because of the staggering diversity to be found throughout the Arab world. Nathalie Handal, a Palestinian-American poet, playwright and editor, described her visits to Bethlehem, and the injustices sustained through construction of Israel’s annexation wall. “Jerusalem is our sister city, and we can’t get there,” she said in frustration. “The isolation is unreal.” A reading of Handal’s “Poem Against the Wall” evoked the same frustration, evident in her voice as she protested the long-term consequences of a wall dividing the West Bank. The Israeli occupation of Palestine has created a large Palestinian Diaspora, divided not only geographically but now culturally as well. Much of Handal’s extended family migrated to Mexico and South America, she explained, further complicating her notions of identity. She now spends holidays “caught somewhere between Abdel Halim Hafez and Luis Miguel,” she said, adding “Latino-Arab” to her already-hyphenated experience. Touching also on the question of identity, Moroccan-American novelist Laila Lalami criticized the publishing industry for its bias against Arab women writers in particular. “As an Arab woman,” she revealed, “I’m expected to talk about how oppressed I am by evil Arab men.” It would seem that the market for Arab-American literature is governed by “the burden of pity” toward Arab societies, she said, and that alternative accounts of the contemporary Arab experience are rejected by publishers accordingly. To counter such stereotypes, poet and novelist Greg Orfalea addressed the panel with a call to action, suggesting that more Arab-American writers should rally for the creation of alternative platforms. “Our struggles are multi-faceted” he declared. “There is a lot of competition among writers, with a limited number of publishing slots and a growing market for digital content…But ultimately the barrier is yourself.” Lalami seconded her colleague: “I refuse to regard the publishing world as monolithic,” she stated. “It’s made up of people, and they can listen and be convinced to publish your work.” Handal concluded by also expressing a hope to mobilize the community—but warned her fellow panelists to think beyond the Arab-American niche. “The mission transcends ethnic identity and cultural heritage,” she declared. “I like to believe that art is universal; it crosses boundaries. These are human stories, and the audience is the whole world.” Nathalie Handal’s poetry compilations, as well as Steve Salaita’s latest, Anti-Arab Racism in the U.S.A., are available for purchase through the AET Book Club. —Hanaan Sarhan |
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