Crossing Borders, Shaping Identities: Exploring the Diasporic Experiences of Arab Women in Diana Abu-Jaber’s Arabian Jazz

Abstract

This paper discusses the different and multiple types of oppression that affect Arab diasporic women’s life in Diana Abu-Jaber’s Arabian Jazz (1993). The paper traces Arab women’s resistance to patriarchy in their native culture, and the challenges of adaptation to new countries. The paper also comes across the significance of ethnic and gendered homeland–memory in molding and expressing Arab diasporic women’s identities, and the impact of these homeland–memories on the sustainability of violence in the host country. Moreover, the term “Reversal Tension” which is a new term, is used to refer to the effects of the Arab community's counter-attempts in the diaspora to prevent Arab women from assimilating into the host countries’ culture.