Representations of Parents-Children Relations in Arabic Fiction in Diaspora

Abstract

Diasporic Arab writers substantially differ in how they represent sociopolitical issues of contemporary Arab cultures in their literary works. Because the family is the core unit of Arab societies and cultures, this study explores fictional representations of one of the main relations within the Arab family. Specifically, this study examines how Arab women writers in diaspora depict parents-children relations in their novels. The study is based on thematic and analytic readings of six novels and two collections of short stories written by diasporic Arab women writers who live in the West and who write in English. Despite the common features that diasporic Arab novels share, the study aims at identifying the differences in representing parents-children relations in the selected novels. Particularly, the study shows that Naomi Shihab Nye, Diana Abu-Jaber, Leila Aboulela and Mohja Kahf represent parents-children relations within the Arab family favorably, while Ahdaf Soueif and Fadia Faqir represent parents-children relations within the Arab family unfavorably.