22nd Annual Student Research Conference
Reevaluating A True Conception of the Middle East: Creating a New Projection of a Diverse Landscape
Andrew P. Kindiger
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
Western audiences heavily convolute a true conception of the Middle East when a diverse grouping of nations is forced into summation. Edward Said asserts in his book Orientalism that the Eastern world has been consolidated into a general assumption by the West, which is separate from the inner geographic and sociopolitical complexities the East truly embodies. Naguib Mahfouz in his novel Midaq Alley addresses the disassociation of a people who have lost their history in the process of orienting their lives with the modern world. Mahfouz expresses how his characters, through their dynamic relationships, seek to challenge their imposed situation and look to discover a life beyond the Alley. My paper will address the sociological disorientation of the Middle East while drawing on comparisons from Midaq Alley to expose the challenges that originate from the past as a world absorbed in history looks towards the future.
Keywords: Middle East, Midaq Alley, Orientalism, Mahfouz, Sociopolitical, Eastern World, Disassociation, Geographic Summation
Topic(s):Sociology/Anthropology
Interdisciplinary
English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 49-5
Location: OP 2113
Time: 3:45