their homeland and alienated in the United States,
these characters “come together in a modern re-
grouping, a new kind of tribal gathering” (qtd. in
Shalal-Esa). As one reader notes about Ramoud’s
character, “Abu-Jaber centers her novel on a Jorda-
nian American widower who loves John Coltrane,
plays drums in a nightspot called the Won Ton a
Go-Go, drinks when he feels like it and has a jok-
ing relationship with his two grown daughters”
(Curiel). The hybrid interest of this main charac-
ter speaks to the author’s own struggle to merge
American and Arab cultural worldviews. “Life was
a constant juggling act,” one interviewer summa-
rizes, “acting Arab at home, but American in the
street” (Shalal-Esa).
In what can be considered a “plotless” novel,
Arabian Jazz presents a slice of life for the Ramoud
family. The novel opens with the father, Matussem,
practicing his jazz—a way for him to cope with (or
grieve for) the passing of his Irish-American wife,
Nora. Nora, his essential guide to America, be-
comes somewhat replaced by his overbearing sister
Fatima, who is determined to find suitors for Ma-
tussem’s daughters, particularly Jemorah. Jemorah
has a few relationships with men—Gilbert Sesame,
a pool shark, Ricky Ellis, a mechanic, and Nassir, a
cousin—but she eventually decides to enter gradu-
ate school to investigate racial prejudice.
More than circumventing her characters’
struggles, Abu-Jaber develops a theme of iden-
tity-making and journeying to find themselves in
America as persons of Arab descent. While there
may be a sense of loss behind each character’s
exile, Abu-Jaber turns this “rootlessness and soli-
tude” into a fictional “exploration and conversa-
tion” that is redeeming through the journey itself
and the humor found in the experience (“Author
Biography”). Perhaps following her own philoso-
phy of life—“You need to find a certain amount
of strength or simple self-confidence in order to
laugh at yourself ” (qtd. in Shalal-Esa)—Abu-Jaber
writes Arabian Jazz with a force and keen aware-
ness of language and comedy that makes it a pow-
erful work.
Arabian Jazz was one of the first novels to ad-
dress the Arab-American struggle to belong in an
America that often holds prejudices against Arabs.
The novel is significant because it becomes a way
to express a silence—the unspoken plight of the
Arab in America. As Abu-Jaber mentions, “[I]f
there’s a choice... between speaking and suppress-
ing yourself... inevitably you have to speak” (qtd.
in Shalal-Esa). Indeed, she has spoken through this
profoundly moving novel.Bibliography
BookBrowse.com. “Author Biography: Diana Abu-
Jaber.” Available online. URL: http://www.
bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_
number-915. Downloaded September 15, 2006.
Curiel, Jonathan. “An Arab American Writer Seeks
Her Identity.” San Francisco Chronicle, 24 May- Available online. URL: http://www.sfgate.
com.cgi-bin/article.cgi?f-c/a/2004/05/24/DDGM-
J6PIL41.DTL&hw -abutjaber&sn-001&SC-1000.
Accessed September 15, 2006.
Shalal-Esa, Andrea. “The Only Response to Silencing
... Is to Keep Speaking.” Al Jadid 8, no. 39 (Spring
2002). Available online by subscription. URL:
http://www.dianaabujaber.com/crescent_inter-
view.html. Accessed 28 April 2006.
Matthew L. Miller
Arranged Marriages Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni (1995)
Arranged Marriages, CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI’s
first collection of stories, explores the trials and
tribulations of middle-class Indian immigrants in
the United States as they experience paradigmatic
shifts in cultural consciousness. Operating under
their culture of arranged marriages, the characters
experiment with alternative lifestyles practiced
in the more sexually open culture of the United
States. With these contrasting experiences comes
a recognition of sexual transgressions and social
ills of their old country. Divakaruni, as cofounder
of MAITRI, a hotline for South-Asian domestic
abuse victims, is determined to eradicate domestic
violence and devotes three of her stories to spread-
ing awareness of this issue.
“Clothes” is a beautiful story that uses saris, the
traditional clothing of Indian women, to represent20 Arranged Marriages