“New Texts Out Now: Evelyn Alsultany & Ella Shohat, Between the Middle East and the Americas: The Cultural Politics of Diaspora.” Jadaliyya, January 18th, 2013. (original) (raw)

Between the Middle East and the Americas critiques traditional area studies by intertwining concepts of cultural production, representation, and diaspora within varying geographies. This work highlights the challenges facing Arab American studies when confronted with both historical contexts and contemporary cultural dynamics, notably through the analysis of the popular telenovela O Clone. By evaluating how cultural texts like O Clone shape and shift perceptions of Arabness and Muslimness across different regional contexts, the volume ultimately advocates for a nuanced understanding of cultural politics in a postcolonial framework.