Writing Homeland: Representing Egypt in Selected Poems by American Poets of Egyptian Origin

Abstract

This study sheds light on the representation of Egypt in selected poetry by four contemporary Egyptian-American poets. It questions the various lenses through which Maged Zaher, Pauline Kaldas, Matthew Shenoda, and Suzy Kassem view their native homeland Egypt, and examines their national tendencies and their transnational ties. These transnational connections reveal the poets’ ambivalence towards their homeland. The multiple representations of Egypt are illuminated in relation to nationalism and transnationalism concepts and theories. Four nationalism-related theories, as dealt by prominent intellectuals and critics, are being explored in relation to the selected poems: primordialism, modern nationalism, ethno-symbolism, and transnationalism.