International Journal of Language & Literature

Arab American's Feeling of Double-consciousness: A Critical African-American's View
Abdullah K Shehabat

Abstract
Arising from Du Bois's definition of double-consciousness Arab Americans were compared with their African- American counterparts, despite the historical, social, political and linguistic differences, in light of their dual identities they experienced at their homes of origin and their host homes. Race, however, was not the major reason for such feeling; it was people's suffering from socioreligious and cultural traditions that negatively banned them from creating any sense of unified identity, especially at their homes of origin. This study illustrates how Arab-American identities became hyphenated, lost and torn between two different worlds due to subjects' inability to strike balance in between these two conflicting worlds. It therefore concludes that it was not only the expatriates' host homes that distanced them from their real identities; it was their host homes that contributed to alienating them from their socioreligious and sexual identities, thus making them feel doubly-conscious.

Full Text: PDF      DOI: 10.15640/ijll.v3n2a6