Papers by Rashad Al Areqi
The Jewish character has passed in a variety of transformations through different stages of histo... more The Jewish character has passed in a variety of transformations through different stages of history. The study explores the position of Jewish character in the world narration, how the Arabs depict the contemporary Jewish character in their literary works compared to the Western/ Christian community and their attributes in the Nobel Quran. The Jewish character becomes in a position of concern for the world writers during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Jewish character has occupied a large part of writing, particularly in the area of narratives. Is there a difference between the past writers and the contemporary ones in addressing the Jewish character in the literary works? The focus is on some selective contemporary Arabic narratives: Ali Al Muqri's The Handsome Jew (2009) and Ala Al Aswani's Chicago (2007), in addition to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Vince and Christopher Marlow's The Jew of Malta as presented the Jew character in the Elizabethan era. The study of the narratives, whether the past or the contemporary ones, revealed the Jewish character as greedy, opportunistic, intolerant, arrogant if they are powerful, and humble if they are weak, obsessed by love of money, dealing with usury, revengeful, keeping no promises, stubborn, full of hate and spite for the community and easy to embrace a new religion for safety or love as Al Muqri's Salem, Shakespeare's Shylock, and Marlowe's Abigal. Further, the narratives showed the second generation of Arabs/ Muslims and Jews in mutual understanding, tolerance, forgiving, and attempting to find common ground to build the bridges of trust and love. They work on normalizing the relations with each other. However, they found themselves social outcasts, hybrid, living in between and the third space, suffering from problematic of identity as Saeed and his son, Ibrahim, the hybrids in Al Muqri's The Handsome Jew.
No one denies what Arab Spring brought to the Arab world of destruction and loss. The revolutiona... more No one denies what Arab Spring brought to the Arab world of destruction and loss. The revolutionaries did not think for a moment that they could reach this unknown and blurred future. The Arab countries are still suffering from the consequences of their uprisings confronted by conspiracy to turn the situation to the worse. The turmoil and conflicting interests of the varied factions continue and no hope to find settlement soon. Many writers express their worries and views about the Arab Spring in their writings whether in the form of articles, poems, or novels. Ibrahim Al Kuni, a Libyan novelist, is one of the writers who may not stand what his country, Libya, becomes during and pre/post of Arab Spring. He has written a novel entitled by "Knights of the Dead Dreams" to show how the Arab Spring started in Libya and the consequences of such a revolution. The study attempts to trace how Al Kuni portrays pre/post-Arab Spring situation and the political and social upheavals in Libya. Through a postcolonial approach, the narrative addresses many postcolonial concepts:displacement, terrorism, exile, and alienation. The study found that the situation became worse after the Arab Spring because such revolutions brought harm to the western interests and to the locals whose interests met with the west. The ex-regime leaders did not surrender easily to the change demands. Such powers do not need the Arab countries to settle to become consuming countries for their military equipment and they need a government in Arab countries that fulfill their interests.
ABSTRACT Zayd Mutee Dammaj's The Hostage is one of the narratives that addresses the suffering an... more ABSTRACT Zayd Mutee Dammaj's The Hostage is one of the narratives that addresses the suffering and struggling of the Yemeni people under the imamate rule. This narrative does not come to express the life of one of the Yemeni hostages in the prison and later on as a servant in the palace of the Governor of Imam, but it comes to express the concerns of a nation oppressed to respond to the imamate demands pre-revolution. This article is an attempt to go through reconstructing of the identity of a hostage who still young and reshaping his identity may not take too much efforts. Through the reconstructing of the hostage identity and its manifestations in his life, this article traces impact of this sort of life in a life of a small hostage who has taken from his mother to enforce his family and tribe to respond positively to the imamate illegal demands. The life of the hostage reveals the corruption and absurdity of life in the palace of the Governor of Imam and his relatives who claim piety. It is found that the life of Governor's palace left a deep influence in the physical, psychological, cultural, sexual and religious life of the hostage. Eventually the hostage managed to escape from this life to unknown future
Literature and culture are involved with each other to mould the community and the style of life.... more Literature and culture are involved with each other to mould the community and the style of life. Sometimes it is not easy mission to differentiate between literature and culture: who makes the other? Teaching literature requires unique skills that may mingle between two or more techniques or approaches and let them working together to motivate the students to participate in the class and stimulate their critical thinking. This article highlights the scio-cultural and personal experiences in the life of students of literature to encourage them to be creative and effective participants in the class and get them out of the traditional circle of teaching. No one can underestimate the influence of literature with its different areas: novel, short story, drama and poetry in shaping the personality of the students and reconstruct their identity according the cultural and social variables studied through literature courses. Through class room teaching models and different types of examination questions that lead the students to recognize well different types of questions and how to answer such literature questions of examinations. This article proves the significance of using appropriate approaches in teaching literature that assist in reconstructing the identity that matched with the cultural, social, religious values of the community. To depend on one technique or an approach would be ineffective to create a person comprehends literature and life. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) Page | 10
A human being may leave his home, particularly the small city he lives in or leaving his big home... more A human being may leave his home, particularly the small city he lives in or leaving his big home to find better opportunities in living or escaping from oppression or wars that drive him to another city or another country to secure a better life for his family and his children. This article attempts to trace the contemporary American narratives how they portray the problem of immigration from home and the consequences of such immigration enforced on human beings for racial, social, cultural, political, or economical reasons. Such immigration leave a deep scar on the identity of the immigrant in the form of traumatic experiences that rock the stability of the immigrant and make him cry 'take me home' or make them feel lost and torn between two countries and two cultures.
Exile and Globalization are two postcolonial terms that reflect the reality of the communities an... more Exile and Globalization are two postcolonial terms that reflect the reality of the communities and the influence of such terms on the lives of the people inside or outside their communities. Exile and globalization have gained special concern in the poetry of Abdullah Al Baraduni, a Yemeni poet. The article traces the influence of such terms upon the lives of Yemenis through two selected poems of Al Baraduni. Both terms would lead one of them to the other; in exile, the person would be distanced from his culture, language, tradition, religion and separated from his community, as a result, the person will be permeated by the global cultures that do not recognize any cultural or social restrictions on the other aspects of lives. Al Baraduni reflects a live picture of the Yemeni community in particular and the Arab community in general and how the person feels exiled in his/her country. Globalization makes the international communities get smaller and establishes many crossroads in their daily lives. Through these two postcolonial terms and through two poems of Al Baraduni, the article addresses these two concepts in Al Baraduni's poetry and how he depicts their influence upon the community in very attractive image, using brilliantly metaphorical images and interesting expressions that make exile and globalization as unavoidable terms in the lives of Arab people. Al Baraduni explicates the influence of exile and globalization upon the Yemeni lives in particular and the Arab world in general. It is inescapable influence reflected in all aspects of daily lives.
This paper explores the Muslim females' vision in two narratives, namely the Girls of Riyadh (200... more This paper explores the Muslim females' vision in two narratives, namely the Girls of Riyadh (2005) by Rajaa Al Sanea and the Persian Girls (2006) by Nahid Rachlin. The former represents the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while the latter stands for Iran. In these novels, both nations claim their adherence to the Islamic rituals and rules. Also, both female writers portray the social, political, religious and cultural dimensions in such nations. In other words, both Muslim women represent the everyday reality of their nations. However, due to the different national and cultural perspectives of the two writers, the novels are narrated differently. They attempt to tackle the hidden features of the two Islamic nations. They focus on the patriarchal domination over females despite the claim of both countries of adhering to Islam, albeit in two different ways. The findings revealed the female sufferings as well as the patriarchal domination under the pretext of preserving the Islamic rules and cultural traditions. As a result, the female intended to resist such patriarchal domination practiced upon them in the name of religion and social conventions.
Terrorism is the talk of the world. It also occupies a larger part in the media and Islam receive... more Terrorism is the talk of the world. It also occupies a larger part in the media and Islam receives relatively high attention compared to other religions. Islam, Muslims, particularly Arabs, in the eyes of the West, become the source of terrorism that gives the West an opportunity to launch a war against the countries which are accused of terrorism. It is, in fact, a war against radical Islam as they claimed. How do the western politicians, reporters, journalists and writers address terrorism in their official speech or literary works that reflect their vision and understanding of terror/terrorism? The present article addresses Amy Waldman's The Submission, 2011, John Updike's Terrorist, 2006, Joel Rosenberg's The Last Jihad, 2002, and their vision of terrorism, its reasons and the people behind. The article concluded that the western narratives written during the controversial period of the post 9/11. 2001 came deeply influenced by the western media reports and the official statements about 9/11. Such narratives also created, but enrooted Islamophobia and anti-Muslim attitudes in the hearts of the westerners while the western narratives written lately showed more sympathy and rationality towards Muslim characters because the hidden facts of terrorism become exposed. The narratives showed that the western countries exaggerate in their reactions against terrorists/terrorism and the present research concluded that the West has taken precautionary steps to protect its interests and its allies in such countries accused of terrorism. The westerners make use of their domination upon the media to create negative and aggressive attitudes towards Islam/Muslims to blackmail the Islamic countries in the name of war on terrorism, and to secularize/westernize the different aspects of life in such Islamic countries. The narratives showed that war on terrorism is a war on Islam, particularly, radical Islam as claimed.
The Islamic literature does not take its proper place among the world arts as one of the signific... more The Islamic literature does not take its proper place among the world arts as one of the significant areas of research. Islamism does not spring up as a tool of literary criticism worthy of studying and writing about. Many studies need to be done on the Islamic literature to highlight this sort of literature and culture. Critics may not give sufficient concern for the Islamic literature and they have not been encouraged to go deeply into the literary works of the writers who classify themselves Islamic writers. This article attempts to set a place for the Islamic literature and traces the first attempts and origins of this sort of literature. It introduces a number of Islamic critics who are interested in this area of the Islamic literature. The main argument is how the Islamic critics define and present what they claim to be Islamic literature and Islamic theory in their writings in general and literary writings in particular. The results indicated that the Islamic critics attempt to put the foundations of this new literature but their efforts do not show sufficient concern with the Islamic literature and the literary works of the Islamic literature do not get sufficient study and research.
This paper explores the Muslim females' vision in two narratives, namely the Girls of Riyadh (200... more This paper explores the Muslim females' vision in two narratives, namely the Girls of Riyadh (2005) by Rajaa Al Sanea and the Persian Girls (2006) by Nahid Rachlin. The former represents the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while the latter stands for Iran. In these novels, both nations claim their adherence to the Islamic rituals and rules. Also, both female writers portray the social, political, religious and cultural dimensions in such nations. In other words, both Muslim women represent the everyday reality of their nations. However, due to the different national and cultural perspectives of the two writers, the novels are narrated differently. They attempt to tackle the hidden features of the two Islamic nations. They focus on the patriarchal domination over females despite the claim of both countries of adhering to Islam, albeit in two different ways. The findings revealed the female sufferings as well as the patriarchal domination under the pretext of preserving the Islamic rules and cultural traditions. As a result, the female intended to resist such patriarchal domination practiced upon them in the name of religion and social conventions.
Immigration is a dream of unlimited number of people, particularly, the third world and developin... more Immigration is a dream of unlimited number of people, particularly, the third world and developing countries people who receive different types of oppression and encounter freedom restrictions in their own countries. They search for better conditions of lives by obtaining the developed countries citizenship. They spend their lives searching for asylum and citizenship, unknowing, sometimes, the hardships waiting for them in such countries, beginning with the restrictions of laws and traditions. Chris Cleave's Little Bee is one of the novels that argue the troubles of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. It explores the British attitude towards asylum seekers and refugees in general in immigration detentions. It tells us about a young Nigerian refugee who has just left the British immigration detention center in which she has spent two horrible years. The novel is analyzed and argued from a postcolonial perspective. The study showed the hardships confronted the immigrants, citizenship and asylums seekers. Eventually it turned out to be not an easy life and the immigrants might spend their entire lives attempting to meet the requirements of citizenship and asylums' laws and rules, regardless of the difficulties of assimilation into a community which is completely different from their cultures and traditions and they need to deal with the discriminatory look of the natives in their daily lives. The community does not accept the color people and the immigrants are not welcomed. The narrative showed the negative attitude of British authorities towards immigrants/refugees.
Hybridity/Hybridization in postcolonialism comes to show a combination of two cultures or more an... more Hybridity/Hybridization in postcolonialism comes to show a combination of two cultures or more and the culturally hybrid person is supposed to live with such a culture in his/her community. However, when you probe deeply into the lives of the hybrids, you find the hybrid unwelcome in the community he lives in, particularly in the Arab and Islamic communities, whereas he is welcome in other communities and cultures where the person represents a larger part of its culture and style of life (i.e. western style of life). The article investigates the concept of "hybridity" in postcolonialism and, in turn, what it means in the Holy Quran and Sunnah of Prophet, Mohammad, peace be upon him. It is an attempt to investigate the synonyms of hybridity from an Islamic perspective compared to its meanings in the postcolonial one. This study attempts to find a satisfactory response to the value and the position of hybrid/hybridization in the Holy Quran and Sunnah, the type of hybridization which includes all sorts of hybrid acts and behavior, whether from cultural, linguistic, religious, political and social aspects. The article found that the sense of hybrid/hybridization remains undesired in the Islamic community and it has a negative sense more than the positive one. The sense of such words in the Arab world and Islamic perspective represents the negative aspects of other cultures and such terms cause reconstruction of identity in the benefit of the foreign culture, and then the problematic in hybrid identity is revealed.
Hybridity/Hybridization in postcolonialism comes to show a combination of two cultures or more an... more Hybridity/Hybridization in postcolonialism comes to show a combination of two cultures or more and the culturally hybrid person is supposed to live with such a culture in his/her community. However, when you probe deeply into the lives of the hybrids, you find the hybrid unwelcome in the community he lives in, particularly in the Arab and Islamic communities, whereas he is welcome in other communities and cultures where the person represents a larger part of its culture and style of life (i.e. western style of life). The article investigates the concept of "hybridity" in postcolonialism and, in turn, what it means in the Holy Quran and Sunnah of Prophet, Mohammad, peace be upon him. It is an attempt to investigate the synonyms of hybridity from an Islamic perspective compared to its meanings in the postcolonial one. This study attempts to find a satisfactory response to the value and the position of hybrid/hybridization in the Holy Quran and Sunnah, the type of hybridization which includes all sorts of hybrid acts and behavior, whether from cultural, linguistic, religious, political and social aspects. The article found that the sense of hybrid/hybridization remains undesired in the Islamic community and it has a negative sense more than the positive one. The sense of such words in the Arab world and Islamic perspective represents the negative aspects of other cultures and such terms cause reconstruction of identity in the benefit of the foreign culture, and then the problematic in hybrid identity is revealed.
Many transformations occur in the daily lives of the peoples of the Arab Gulf. Undoubtedly, such ... more Many transformations occur in the daily lives of the peoples of the Arab Gulf. Undoubtedly, such changes have left very deep influence in the varied areas of lives. Writing Gulf Sates literature in general and narrative in particular is reshaped by the daily events and concerns. The daily social and political, cultural and race/sectarian prejudice issues become the core of the Gulf writers' concerns. In the Gulf communities, migrants come from around the world with their different cultures, languages, religions, but social conventions on the hope of finding their living. The immigrants become a part of the Gulf community and affect the culture and social conventions of the Gulf Communities, regardless of the Gulf people who travel abroad for study or tourism or searching for a better life and come back with new identity and new style of life. How do the writers express problematic of identity and the hybridity in such globalized world and cosmopolitan atmosphere? The article addresses transformations in the Gulf States identity and the rapid changes in social and political arena as portrayed by the Gulf writers in the area of narrative. The article focuses on two narratives by
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2014
Abstract—Search for freedom is one of the most demanding requirements of the people who were unde... more Abstract—Search for freedom is one of the most demanding requirements of the people who were under the hell of slavery in the past, particularly in America; nowadays slavery adopts different aspects in the contemporary era. Morrison is one of the Afro-American novelists who dedicated their literary works to uncover the tyranny imposed on the African Americans in the past and how they unfettered from its chains. This article explores a long journey from slavery to salvation argued in Tony Morrison's A Mercy and what its repercussions in the lives of enslaved people in America regardless of their race, religion, color or country. On the road of freedom, they would lack their honor, their home and their trust in themselves, even their faith in God to change their lives to better. They will be vulnerable religiously, socially, psychologically, and culturally and exposed to sever torment involved with physical, spiritual and psychological sides of their lives. The focus in this article is on such transformations that may change different aspects of the enslaved lives, particularly the females, under the pressure and tyranny of the slavery traders who cares only for their interests regardless of their breaching to the laws of humanity and human rights. It was found that the females are more vulnerable and a mercy of a man interferes to salvage their lives, however, that salvation and protection would not continue forever. Index Terms—slavery, salvation, mercy, female, freedom, transformation, black, white
International Journal of English Language Teaching, 2013
It is not easy to write about a home you are enforced to be away of it. Undoubtedly, your words a... more It is not easy to write about a home you are enforced to be away of it. Undoubtedly, your words and lines will be expressive and impressive because they come to reveal a fact would not be ignored by the Palestinians or the world in general. Mohmoud Darwish is one of the Palestinians who were enforced to be dislocated, jailed, but exiled. He has an experience in exile with homelessness and homeliness. This article attempts to analyze four of Darwish's poems that address home and homeliness, identity and exile of the strangers who spend their lives dislocated. The selected poems will be analyzed to probe deeply into the location of home, homeliness, exile and identity in the poetry of Mahmoud Drawish. How the strangers feel while they are detached of their homes and families searching for their identity, searching for their home. The article explores the influence of the words of Darwish's poetry in expressing homesickness, homeliness and how a Palestinian finds his life away of his motherland, Palestine. The focus will be on the thematic and attitudinal structure and the aesthetics of using the expressive words, symbols and images that manifest the postcolonial identity that always stands against dominating power of colonizers. Keywords: home, homeliness, identity, exile, discrimination, stranger, Palestinian, poem
English Language and Literature Studies, 2014
The article explores the image of the Muslim and the mosque in postcolonial literary texts. E. M.... more The article explores the image of the Muslim and the mosque in postcolonial literary texts. E. M. Forester's A Passage to India is taken as an example of the postcolonial text which will be traced to recognize how the western novelist portrays the Muslim's life and how he has shaped the indigenous identity of the Muslim in this narrative. Further, the article highlights the Muslim's relationship with non-Muslim in India, whether they are Indians or English people and its repercussions in their daily lives. Forster's visit to India and his real experience would help him to reflect the reality of the situation in India. How Forster does manifest the Muslim and the mosque in this narrative? How does Dr. Aziz receive the strangers, particularly, the English people, the colonizers who are different in their culture and religion? In addition, what are the Islamic values incarnated by Dr. Aziz in the novel? The argument focuses on Dr. Aziz as a Muslim and his relationship with the mosque in the text. The article found that Muslim represented by Dr. Aziz as a true believer and a respectful character in the world of difference and diversity as Mrs. Moors represented the brilliant side of Christianity and the human side of British colonizers in India. Aziz's manifestations of counter discourse are argued throughout the narrative and Dr. Aziz's loyalty to the mosque, faith, and to his country is unquestionable.
Exile and Globalization are two postcolonial terms that reflect the reality of the communities an... more Exile and Globalization are two postcolonial terms that reflect the reality of the communities and the influence of such terms on the lives of the people inside or outside their communities. Exile and globalization have gained special concern in the poetry of Abdullah Al Baraduni, a Yemeni poet. The article traces the influence of such terms upon the lives of Yemenis through two selected poems of Al Baraduni. Both terms would lead one of them to the other; in exile, the person would be distanced from his culture, language, tradition, religion and separated from his community, as a result, the person will be permeated by the global cultures that do not recognize any cultural or social restrictions on the other aspects of lives. Al Baraduni reflects a live picture of the Yemeni community in particular and the Arab community in general and how the person feels exiled in his/her country. Globalization makes the international communities get smaller and establishes many crossroads in their daily lives. Through these two postcolonial terms and through two poems of Al Baraduni, the article addresses these two concepts in Al Baraduni's poetry and how he depicts their influence upon the community in very attractive image, using brilliantly metaphorical images and interesting expressions that make exile and globalization as unavoidable terms in the lives of Arab people. Al Baraduni explicates the influence of exile and globalization upon the Yemeni lives in particular and the Arab world in general. It is inescapable influence reflected in all aspects of daily lives.
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Papers by Rashad Al Areqi