Writing the War on Terror. Post 9/11 Arab-American and Muslim-American Literature and the Postnational Imaginary

This paper focuses on the problematic construction of the Middle Eastern-American (often summarily stereotyped as “Arab”, “Islamic” or “Muslim”) as dis-identified citizen in the new century. I lay out a frame of reference to address the practice and consequences of ethnic labeling in post-9/11 U.S., and analyze the way in which cultural representations of Arabs and Muslims in America have contributed to both reinforcing the trope of disidentified citizenry as well as questioning the ideological premises of such disidentification.