<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In ethnic literature, the historical and cultural past constantly haunt the present, producing contemporary narratives which emphasize how the heritage plays an essential role in preserving ethnic identity. From a trans-historical perspective, Arab American women’s narratives tend to turn the history of Al-Andalus (Medieval Moorish Spain) into cultural memory as a way of coping with the threats to their existence in the United States, particularly post-9/11, as well as of resisting the hegemonic culture. The aim of this paper is to investigate how Al-Andalus is intended to be seen as a construct of cultural memory and how this site of memory has the power to reshape individual and collective identity.</p></abstract>

In ethnic literature, the historical and cultural past constantly haunt the present, producing contemporary narratives which emphasize how the heritage plays an essential role in preserving ethnic identity. From a trans-historical perspective, Arab American women’s narratives tend to turn the history of Al-Andalus (Medieval Moorish Spain) into cultural memory as a way of coping with the threats to their existence in the United States, particularly post-9/11, as well as of resisting the hegemonic culture. The aim of this paper is to investigate how Al-Andalus is intended to be seen as a construct of cultural memory and how this site of memory has the power to reshape individual and collective identity.

Making History Usable: Al-Andalus as a Site of Identity Construction in Arab American Women’s Narratives

Gender Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

In ethnic literature, the historical and cultural past constantly haunt the present, producing contemporary narratives which emphasize how the heritage plays...

Making History Usable: Al-Andalus as a Site of Identity Construction in Arab American Women’s Narratives

Published Online: Mar 13, 2018

Page range: 18 - 28

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/genst-2018-0003

Keywords
9/11, Al-Andalus, cultural memory, identity, women’s history

© 2018 Al-Jayikh Ali Kareem, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Making History Usable: Al-Andalus as a Site of Identity Construction in Arab American Women’s Narratives

Published Online: Mar 13, 2018

Page range: 18 - 28

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/genst-2018-0003

Keywords9/11, Al-Andalus, cultural memory, identity, women’s history

© 2018 Al-Jayikh Ali Kareem, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
9/11, Al-Andalus, cultural memory, identity, women’s history