Arab American Drama, Film and Performance

Michael Malek Najjar is an associate professor of theatre arts at the University of Oregon. He lives in Eugene, Oregon.

“The author is meticulous in his attention to the details of his examples and equally committed to the larger cultural and institutional history that these works represent and enable. Activist practitioners and academic critics contribute dynamically with their provocative and probing examinations and recordings of a major, if often overlooked, component of modern US cultural and political history...highly recommended” —Choice; “comprehensive and scholarly...engaging” —Aljadid; “offers a valuable and scholarly treatment of Arab American performance in refreshingly direct prose, introducing readers to the artists, works and themes currently shaping Arab American culture...an engaging and clear overview of the plays, films and performances of self-identified Arab Americans”—Studia Neophilologica; “Unquestionably, Michael Malek Najjar’s new book will stand as a vanguard in the study of Arab-American culture and arts. Najjar is at his most fascinating when describing and analyzing individual works, both past and present”—Al Jadid Magazine; “An important examination of an underrepresented area...a ground-breaking inquiry into stereotypes, resistance, cultural inclusion and exclusion, and how artists engage in all of the above. A worthy addition to the cultural and ethnic studies bookshelf.”—Kevin Wetmore, Jr., professor and chair of theatre arts, Loyola Marymount University; “Najjar’s study offers an impressive appraisal of the trajectory of Arab American drama, theater and performance from its early origins to its latest and most embattled manifestation in the post–9/11 works. This is a highly recommended, wide-ranging and informative book.”—Nouri Gana, editor of The Edinburgh Companion to the Arab Novel in English: The Politics of Anglo Arab and Arab American Literature and Culture

• AcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroduction: Defining a Genre1. “Unresolved sorrow and uncomprehending anger”: Contemporary Arab American Identity Formation2. “We are not of the East or West”: Origins of Arab American Drama in the Works of Rihani, Gibran and Naimy3. “There’s nothing funny about your people”: Arab American Comedy and ­Stand-Up Performance4. “It’s not profiling, it’s deduction”: Post–9/11 Arab American Drama5. Suffering for Palestine: Palestinian American Playwrights6. Arabs Filming Arabs: Contemporary Arab American Films7. “A psychic civil war onstage”: Arab American Solo PerformanceConclusionAppendix: Abridged Chronology of Arab American Drama, Film and Performance, 1896–2015Chapter NotesWorks ReferencedIndex