|
''Arabian Jazz'' is a novel written by Diana Abu-Jaber and published in 1993. ==Plot summary== The novel focuses on the happenings of the Ramouds. The widowed father of the family, Matussem Ramoud, lives with his two daughters and was accompanied to America with his sister and brother-in-law. Matussem and his daughters reside in a middle class house in a run-down, low class neighborhood. Their environment mimics that of a hazardous dumping ground, with their house surrounded by broken down cars and trailers that have neither running water nor a proper sewage waste system. Diapers and garbage liters their backyard, providing the ideal tone for the family’s mixed emotions and values. Matussem’s American-born daughters are older, but both seem to still struggle with their identities, contemplating their roles in American culture versus Middle Eastern culture. Aunt Fatima, Matussem’s devoted Islamic sister, desires for the two daughters, Melvina and Jemorah, to follow the conventions and traditions of their motherland—Jordan. Fatima concerns her new, American life with the local gossip and obsesses over Melvina and Jemorah’s dating life. Fatima is disgraced that both of her nieces are not yet married; she makes it her life mission to find suitable, affluent suitors for them. While Melvina, the younger daughter, has found herself successful and happy in her career as a nurse, Jemorah has yet to find a satisfying career path and struggles throughout the novel with her cultural and career oriented identity. Her father is clearly Middle Eastern and still has a stronghold in the traditions of the east, but her deceased mother was a redheaded American. Her aunt clearly desires for her to conform to the traditions and customs of Jordan, but Jemorah finds that those conventions neither fill her cultural void nor feel natural and comfortable. Thus, Jemorah feels stuck in the middle, not quite Middle Eastern and not quite American. Matussem is struggling just as much as his daughters, attempting to discover his new place in America devoid of his loving wife. Unlike Melvina, he does not find comfort in a career, but rather feels most at peace making jazz music on his drum set. It is only when he is playing this music in the local bar that he forgets about the death of his wife and the personal crisis that was created through his immigration. Both his daughters and his sister find this hobby bizarre and somewhat embarrassing. Only after Matussem journeys back to Jordan are his daughters able to find themselves and their place within culture. This journey too has a similar effect on Matussem, allowing clarity to his thought process and his actions. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arabian Jazz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|