The Confines and Freedoms of Female Identity in Diana Abu-Jaber’s Arabian Jazz

Abstract

Diana Abu-Jaber’s Arabian Jazz (1993) takes place in Euclid, New York, a town which remains “virtually the same as it had been one hundred years ago” (Abu-Jaber 1993, 88), filled with “dirt farmers, onion farmers, and junk dealers” (90). The Ramouds, an Arabian American family, move to town, attempting a fresh start after the death of Nora, the wife and mother. Their ethnic background and middle-class status make them stand out within the “white-trash town,” which “produced poorly clothed and poorly fed children” (90). Within this environment, some characters, regardless of gender, culture, or economic status, struggle with the confines of their understood identities. The Ramoud sisters, Jemorah and Melvina, and the Ott sisters, Peachy and Dolores, act as foils to one another, emphasizing the unbalanced reality for these women in society. While many critics detail the hardships faced by Jemorah and Melvina because of their dual Arabic and American backgrounds, this duality and their middle-class status allow them to form their own identities and make their own rules in life. Unfortunately, many of the white women in the text feel trapped by their poverty and by a white trash label, which limits and stifles their life choices and opportunities.