Troubled constructions of patriarchal and masculine identities in Laila Halaby’s West of the Jordan (2003): a gendered perspective

Abstract

This article introduces the complex and troubled constructions of Arab masculine and patriarchal identities depicted in Laila Halaby’s West of the Jordan, as told from the gaze of the novel’s female protagonists. It suggests that the politics of Arab male characters’ gender identity entail convoluted understandings, projecting them in both the diaspora and the homeland. The analysis in this article put flesh on the bones of some central questions regarding what problematises and affects masculinity and patriarchy in an Arab context. In addition to analytical and critical approaches to the novel, this article relies on a socio-cultural constructionist approach based on the perspectives of critics and theorists such as Raewyn Connell, Fadia Faqir, Fatima Mernissi and Homi Bhabha.