20th Annual Student Research Conference
Language & Literature
"Pendulum of Opposites" Palestinian-American Women's Poetry and the Conflict of Identities
Gina R. Cook
Dr. Christine Harker, Faculty Mentor
The Palestinian people are in a state of diasporic nationalism due to the Zionist settling of Palestine and the instigation of the State of Israel in 1948. Since then, the Palestinian people have settled all over the world, many of them in the U.S. Yet these people still maintain close ties to their homeland and participate in the Palestinian ethnicity. Using Palestinian-American women’s poetry as my primary text, I examine the dual Palestinian-American identity and the personal conflicts that arise when two differing cultures combine to create a single identity. I will present excerpts and close analysis of the poetry of five Palestinian-American women; Suheir Hammad, Lena Jayyusi, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Lisa Suheir Majaj and Naomi Shihab Nye.
Keywords: Palestinian-American, Poetry, Diaspora, Suheir Hammad, Lena Jayyusi, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Lisa Suheir Majaj, Naomi Shihab Nye
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 43-5
Location: OP 2117
Time: 2:15 pm