Understanding the “Other” in Naomi Shihab Nye’s You &amp; Yours

Bedaiwi, Hayat

doi:10.13169/islastudj.7.1.0066

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Islamophobia Studies Journal

Volume 7, Issue 1

Record: found
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Article: found

Is Open Access

Understanding the “Other” in Naomi Shihab Nye’s You & Yours

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Author(s): Hayat Bedaiwi

Publication date (Electronic, pub): 16 June 2022

Publication date (Electronic, collection): 1 January 2022

Journal: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Other, empathy, personal as political, humanity, Naomi Shihab Nye

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Abstract

As a significant ethnic group in the United States, Arab American poets have always used the personal to tackle larger political themes in their poetry. Many writers have reacted to the political events around them, such as 9/11, and this includes Naomi Shihab Nye. In “Naomi Shihab Nye’s Aesthetic of Smallness and the Military Sublime,” Samina Najmi argues that the few critics who write about Nye do not focus on her “overtly political” 9/11 poetry. Nye deals with this theme in You & Yours directing the reader’s attention to the outcomes of 9/11 and war torn territoires in the Middle East. In You & Yours, Nye repeatedly educates her readers by invoking sympathy for the other and observing their way of life, eventually allowing the reader to see a reality that they rarely observe in the news; the suffering, the pain and the humane part of the “Other.”

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169/islastudj

Title: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Abbreviated Title: ISJ

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Electronic): 2325-8381

Publication date (Electronic, pub): 16 June 2022

Publication date (Electronic, collection): 1 January 2022

Volume: 7

Issue: 1

Pages: 66-81

Article

DOI: 10.13169/islastudj.7.1.0066

SO-VID: bdc58967-76ab-4dde-9ba1-259d01fdfcab

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Pages: 16

References

Cornel Bonca. 2011. “ How (and How Not) to Write about 9/11.” Modern Language Studies, 41, no. 1: 132– 40. Accessed January 5, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41445159.
Judith Butler. 2006. Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. New York: Verso.
Kimberly Chabot Davis. 2008. “ White Book Clubs and African American Literature: The Promise and Limitations of Cross-Racial Empathy.” Literature Interpretation Theory, 19, no. 2: 155– 86. Accessed January 5, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/10436920802107625.
Hind El HajjSirène Harb. 2015. “ Space, Mobility, and Agency in Palestinian American Poetry.” Arab Studies Quarterly, 37, no. 3: 224– 43. Accessed January 5, 2021. doi: [Cross Ref].
Mayy ElHayawi. 2011. “ Beyond 9/11: Poetics of Transcultural Agency in Contemporary Ethnic American Poetry.” Other Modernities, 173– 89. Accessed December 15, 2019. https://doi.org/10.13130/2035-7680/1302.
Sharif S. Elmusa 2007. “ Vital Attitude of the Poet: Interview with Naomi Shihab Nye.” Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, 27: 107. Gale Academic OneFile. Accessed January 5, 2021. doi: [Cross Ref].
Larry R. Geriuch 2020. “ Paul Robeson.” American National Biography. Last modified June 2019. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-5001291.
Ibis Gómez-Vega. 2001. “ An Essay Review: The Art of Telling Stories in the Poetry of Naomi Shihab Nye.” Melus, 26, no. 4: 245– 52. Accessed January 5, 2021. doi: [Cross Ref].
Ibis Gómez-Vega. 2010. “ Extreme Realities: Naomi Shihab Nye’s Essays and Poems / ﻭﻗﺎﺋﻊ متطرفة: مقالات وأشعار نعومي شهاب ناي.” Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, 30: 109– 33. Accessed January 5, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27929849.
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Deema Hilal. 2002. “ Bordering on the Borderless: The Poetry of Naomi Shihab Nye.” Modified by June 2019. Al Jadid, 8, no. 39: 193. Literature Resource Center. Accessed January 5. https://www.aljadid.com/content/bordering-borderless-poetry-naomi-shihab-nye.
Patricia Hill Collins. 2016. “ What is Intersectionality?” Cambridge: Polity Press.
Ann KenistonJeffrey Gray. 2012. The New American Poetry of Engagement: A 21st Century Anthology. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Kate Long. 2009. “ Roots: On Language and Heritage: A Conversation with Naomi Shihab Nye.” World Literature Today, 83, no. 6: 31– 4. http://search.ebscohost.com.sdl.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=45210249&site=ehost-live.
L. S. Majaj 1999. “ Arab-American Ethnicity: Locations, Coalitions, and Cultural Negotiations.” Arabs in America: Building a New Future, 321– 36. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
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Lorraine MercerLinda Strom. “ Counter Narratives: Cooking up Stories of Love and Loss in Naomi Shihab Nye’s Poetry and Diana Abu-Jaber’s ‘Crescent.’” MELUS, vol. 32, no. 4, [ Oxford University Press, Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS)], 2007, pp. 33– 46, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30029830.
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Edward Said. 2003. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. 25th Anniversary Edition.
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Alisa Solomon. 2006. “ Who Gets to Be Human on the Evening News?” PMLA, 121, no. 5: 1585– 92. Accessed January 5, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25501629.
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H. Willson 2016. “ Johnny Carson.” Biography Reference Bank. Accessed October 25, 2019.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Cornel Bonca. 2011. “ How (and How Not) to Write about 9/11.” Modern Language Studies, 41, no. 1: 132– 40. Accessed January 5, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41445159.

[2] Judith Butler. 2006. Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. New York: Verso.

[3] Kimberly Chabot Davis. 2008. “ White Book Clubs and African American Literature: The Promise and Limitations of Cross-Racial Empathy.” Literature Interpretation Theory, 19, no. 2: 155– 86. Accessed January 5, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/10436920802107625.

[4] Hind El HajjSirène Harb. 2015. “ Space, Mobility, and Agency in Palestinian American Poetry.” Arab Studies Quarterly, 37, no. 3: 224– 43. Accessed January 5, 2021. doi: [Cross Ref].

[5] Mayy ElHayawi. 2011. “ Beyond 9/11: Poetics of Transcultural Agency in Contemporary Ethnic American Poetry.” Other Modernities, 173– 89. Accessed December 15, 2019. https://doi.org/10.13130/2035-7680/1302.

[6] Sharif S. Elmusa 2007. “ Vital Attitude of the Poet: Interview with Naomi Shihab Nye.” Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, 27: 107. Gale Academic OneFile. Accessed January 5, 2021. doi: [Cross Ref].

[7] Larry R. Geriuch 2020. “ Paul Robeson.” American National Biography. Last modified June 2019. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-5001291.

[8] Ibis Gómez-Vega. 2001. “ An Essay Review: The Art of Telling Stories in the Poetry of Naomi Shihab Nye.” Melus, 26, no. 4: 245– 52. Accessed January 5, 2021. doi: [Cross Ref].

[9] Ibis Gómez-Vega. 2010. “ Extreme Realities: Naomi Shihab Nye’s Essays and Poems / ﻭﻗﺎﺋﻊ متطرفة: مقالات وأشعار نعومي شهاب ناي.” Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, 30: 109– 33. Accessed January 5, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27929849.

[10] Sirène Harb. 2012. “ Arab American Women’s Writing and September 11: Contrapuntality and Associative Remembering.” Melus, 37, no. 3: 13– 41. Accessed January 5, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23273792.

[11] Deema Hilal. 2002. “ Bordering on the Borderless: The Poetry of Naomi Shihab Nye.” Modified by June 2019. Al Jadid, 8, no. 39: 193. Literature Resource Center. Accessed January 5. https://www.aljadid.com/content/bordering-borderless-poetry-naomi-shihab-nye.

[12] Patricia Hill Collins. 2016. “ What is Intersectionality?” Cambridge: Polity Press.

[13] Ann KenistonJeffrey Gray. 2012. The New American Poetry of Engagement: A 21st Century Anthology. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

[14] Kate Long. 2009. “ Roots: On Language and Heritage: A Conversation with Naomi Shihab Nye.” World Literature Today, 83, no. 6: 31– 4. http://search.ebscohost.com.sdl.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=45210249&site=ehost-live.

[15] L. S. Majaj 1999. “ Arab-American Ethnicity: Locations, Coalitions, and Cultural Negotiations.” Arabs in America: Building a New Future, 321– 36. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

[16] Lisa Suhair Majaj. 2008. “ Arab-American Literature: Origins and Developments.” American Studies Journal, 52, no. 52. http://www.asjournal.org/52-2008/arab-american-literature-origins-and-developments.

[17] Lorraine MercerLinda Strom. “ Counter Narratives: Cooking up Stories of Love and Loss in Naomi Shihab Nye’s Poetry and Diana Abu-Jaber’s ‘Crescent.’” MELUS, vol. 32, no. 4, [ Oxford University Press, Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS)], 2007, pp. 33– 46, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30029830.

[18] Bill Moyers. 2002. “ Naomi Shihab Nye: A Bill Moyer’s Interview”. Now. https://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_nye.html.

[19] Samina Najmi. 2010.“ Naomi Shihab Nye’s Aesthetic of Smallness and the Military Sublime.” Melus, 35, no. 2 (Summer): 151– 71. doi: [Cross Ref].

[20] Gerald D. Nash 2010. “ Maury Maverick.” American National Biography. Biography Reference Center. http://search.ebscohost.com.sdl.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=9392525&site=ehost-live.

[21] Naomi Shehab Nye. 2002. “ This is Not Who We Are”. Oprah Magazine, 83– 6. Accessed October 28, 2019.

[22] Naomi Shihab Nye. 2005. You & Yours: Poems. Rochester, NY: BOA Editions.

[23] Susan A. Peckham 2014. Talking through the Door: An Anthology of Contemporary Middle Eastern American Writing. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

[24] Edward Said. 2003. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. 25th Anniversary Edition.

[25] Jack Shaheen. 2008. Guilty: Hollywood’s Verdict on Arabs After 9/11. Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press.

[26] Andrea Shalal-Esa. 2003. “ Arab-American Writers Identify with Communities of Color.” Aljadid: A Review & Record of Arab Culture and Arts, 9, no. 42–43. https://www.aljadid.com/content/arab-american-writers-identify-communities-color.

[27] Alisa Solomon. 2006. “ Who Gets to Be Human on the Evening News?” PMLA, 121, no. 5: 1585– 92. Accessed January 5, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25501629.

[28] Rajini Srikanth. 2015. ‘The War on Terror’: Post-9/11 South Asian and Arab American Literature,” in The Cambridge Companion to Asian American Literature, 73– 85. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: [Cross Ref].

[29] Lisa Suhair Majaj. 1996. “ Arab American Literature and the Politics of Memory,” In Memory and Cultural Politics, 266– 90. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

[30] H. Willson 2016. “ Johnny Carson.” Biography Reference Bank. Accessed October 25, 2019.