Questioning the Multicultural Identity in Postmodernist Arab-American Poetic

Abstract

Arab- American poetry is multicultural in nature. It is the product of two opposing cultures
which determine its identity. This paper aims to highlight the poetics of identity in the poetry of
the Arab-American poets Sharif El Musa and Naomi Nye. It examines the role that Arab-
American poets underwent since the last decade of the twentieth century until the present to go
through a cultural dialogue and to present an authentic face of Arab- American poetry which
surpasses assimilation and tactics of marginalization. The study looks into the multi-facet
representation of the Arab-American identity through the diverse experiences of Sharif El Musa
and Naomi Nye whose poetry in common challenges the hegemonized stereotyping of Arab-
Americans, forging spaces for recognition and multicultural conceptualization of American
identity and citizenship. It also shows how exile and displacement have been promoted positively
in a way which transcends the boundaries of national identity and permits creativity, liberation
and criticism in a multicultural atmosphere.