American Studies Center
at the University of Bahrain
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Report on
“Diverse Voices in American Literature” Symposium
A Symposium entitled “Diverse Voices in American Literature” was opened on Monday, March 27, at the University of Bahrain’s Sakhir Campus. Under the patronage of University President, Dr. Mariam Bint Hassan Al-Khalifa, the Symposium was sponsored by the American Studies Center, a branch of the Department of English Language and Literature in the College of Arts. A generous grant from the American Embassy, Bahrain, allowed the Center to invite four prominent scholar/authors from as far away as California and as close as Cyprus, to participate in the Symposium.
The guests were greeted at the University by Vice President for Planning and Community Service, Dr. Alawi Al Hashemi, on behalf of President Mariam Al Khalifa, and after a brief welcome were escorted to Hall 47 in the Administration Building where the Symposium was held. Attending the first set of lectures was Dr. Ibrahim Ghuloom, Dean of the College of Arts, U.S. Ambassador William Monroe and members of his staff, Dr. Ahmed Yousif, Advisor to the University President, and students and faculty of the University. In addition, over a hundred students from outside the University attended. These were a select group of senior secondary students from both private and public schools in Bahrain, hand-picked by their teachers for their English language proficiency and interest in literature.
The Symposium was opened with welcoming remarks by Dr. A. Aziz Buleila, Chairman of the Department of English Language and Literature, who, after briefly introducing each of the speakers, stated that not only were the participants distinguished scholars, they were also noted writers who had “produced a wealth of creative literature, including short stories, novels, poetry, and essays” which was contributing to the very diversity that was the theme of the Symposium. He then introduced Ambassador Monroe, who followed with a brief set of remarks on the historical diversity of American culture, especially as it has been exemplified in the artistic works of various ethnic communities. He stressed that while the experience of such communities has not always been positive, the participation of such scholars and authors in a context like the Symposium is an invaluable contribution to a greater understanding of American diversity.
The first speaker was then introduced by Dr. John Hillis, Director of the University’s American Studies Center. Professor Shirley Lim teaches English at the University of California at Santa Barbara and is also Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong. She arrived in Bahrain from the Far East where she had been on a tour promoting the publication of her latest novel, Sister Swing, copies of which were available at the Symposium.
In her illustrated talk, Professor Lim briefly outlined the history of Asian Americans in the United States, from their earliest arrival in the 19th century from China, to more recent arrivals from Korea, Vietnam, and other locations in Asia. She noted that historically there has been a pull-push factor regarding immigrants from Asia, a welcome especially to young males who were willing to engage in hard manual labor on railroads and other back-breaking projects, and a subsequent unwillingness to allow them to stay and become citizens or to integrate into the larger community.
Herself an immigrant originally from Malaysia, she explained that the term Asian American was an umbrella expression which included a diversity of communities: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and other South Asian groups such as Indian and Pakistani. She asked the audience whether it felt that Arab Americans should be included in the category of Asian Americans. Members of the audience responded by noting that many Arabs live in North Africa and that therefore they should be dealt with as a separate category.
Professor Lim went on to say that establishing one’s identity in the American context had always been a challenge, explaining that self-identity is a fluid notion and exists somewhere in the hyphen that recognizes the double heritage of America’s immigrant communities. She specifically alluded to writers who over the years have illustrated both the challenges and opportunities of the American experience in their poetry, short stories, novels, and essays.
Her well-received talk was followed by an address by Lisa Suhair Majaj, a noted poet, essayist and authority in the field of Arab American literature. Of Palestinian origin, Ms. Majaj was born in America but grew up in Jordan and attended the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. She is an independent writer who currently resides with her family in Cyprus. Her participation in the Symposium was something of a return visit to Bahrain as she had been invited several years ago to speak at a conference sponsored by the Department of English Language and Literature. In the event that her health did not permit her to attend, her paper was read by Dr. John Hillis.
Ms. Majaj briefly outlined the history of Arab American writers in the early part of the 20th century, including such world-renowned authors as Khalil Ghibran. She went on to recall how in the 1980s, when she wanted to do graduate research on Arab American writers, she was unable to locate any such category in American libraries, most writers being labeled according to their country of origin, such as Syria, Lebanon, or Egypt.
More recently, however, this has changed, and especially with the Palestine-Israel conflict and the more recent events of September 2001, Americans of Arab heritage have become more aware of and outspoken about their identity. Often they have been compelled to resist the stereotypes of female seduction or male terrorism with which they are often ignorantly labeled, and this resistance is reflected in their poetry, short stories, and, increasingly, longer works of fiction, as well as essays.
At the same time, they have not been shy about asserting the positive aspects of their American heritage and the dimension it that has added to their identity. In particular, she mentioned that many women have found the American experience emancipating and this is reflected in the number of Arab American women writers. She read from the poetry of prominent Arab American poets such as Naomi Shehab Nye, Nathalie Handel, as well as her own poetry. In addition, she noted that the recent publication of anthologies of Arab American writing has contributed significantly to the consciousness by Arab Americans of their own special identity and the vital need to make their voices and concerns known to the larger culture.
The Symposium continued on Tuesday with contributions by Professor Helena Maria Viramontes of Cornell University, who gave a talk on the literary contributions of the Hispanic American community. Professor Viramontes is a widely known Chicana writer who has published short stories and poetry, some of which are included in anthologies such as the Introduction to Literature and the Heath Anthology. In addition, she is the author of a novel, Under the Feet of Jesus and is working on another novel.
In her address, Professor Viramontes briefly recounted the history of Hispanic Americans. Though this group is itself diverse, representing Cubans, Puerto Ricans, South and Central Americans, but chiefly Mexicans, it is tied together by its Spanish language heritage. She noted that Mexicans originally did not cross the border illegally so much as the border crossed them, referring to the annexation of large parts of what are now the southwestern parts of the United States, including California, at the conclusion of the U.S. war of aggression against Mexico in 1846. Since then, Mexican Americans have been largely relegated to the status of second-class citizens, heavily involved in back-breaking manual labor in the agricultural fields of California and elsewhere. They also fill many of the unskilled service jobs that other Americans don’t want. Professor Viramontes is passionately concerned about such matters and they are at the heart of her novel, Under the Feet of Jesus.
Despite such exploitation, prospects for a brighter future exist and cross-border culture is an increasing influence on the American mainstream, particularly in the area of music. Professor Viramontes had the audience clapping along to the familiar strains of “La Bamba”. Finally, she talked about the prevalence of machismo mentality in Mexican American life and related it to her personal experience. Any liberation movement for the Hispanic community must also entail a liberation of the women within that culture, she asserted.
Professor Viramontes was followed by her colleague at Cornell, W.E.B. DuBois Professor of English, Kenneth McClane, who presented the contributions of African American writers. One of the most popular professors at Cornell, Professor McClane is also the author of several acclaimed collections of poetry and essays including Take Five and Walls. Recently he has been reading his poetry at events designed to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Professor McClane gave a brief survey of contributions of African Americans to the diversity of American literature, highlighting such well-known writers as Frederick Douglass, Gwendolyn Brooks, and James Baldwin. In the inimitable platform style of a Harlem preacher, McClane recounted the necessity for African Americans to create their own identity, from the earliest days of American colonialism, out of the wreckage of their enslavement. That they have managed to contribute so successfully and in such significant ways to American culture is a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit, he said.
Both sessions of the Symposium were followed by perceptive questions from an audience that had been highly engaged by the speeches they had heard.
In addition to these lectures, the Symposium participants also visited classes in the Department of English Language and Literature. There they shared their own writings, their perceptions of American relations to the world, particularly the Arab world, asked questions of the students, and were asked questions in turn. It seemed that students could scarcely get enough of their visitors and pursued them with queries even after the lecture time ran out. The knowledge gained in these classes, where the Symposium participants had an opportunity to contact Bahraini students directly, will be shared with their colleagues and students in America, thus contributing to the greater understanding of Arab culture by people in America as well as a deeper perception of American culture by young Bahrainis, one of the primary goals of the Symposium.
Outside the Symposium, the American guests participated in a public reading of their works at a meeting organized by the Bahrain Writers Association at Al-Riwaq Gallery in Adliya. Prominent Bahraini poets also read from their works. This combination of readings in Arabic and English may have been a first for Bahrain and was an opportunity for speakers of either language—but especially for those who knew both—to be enlightened by and enjoy two important cultural heritages.
Overall, the Symposium was one of the most successful extracurricular events of the academic year. Praise from attendees—university students as well as invited guests—faculty members, administrators, and the participants has been unanimous, and many have expressed a wish that similar events be hosted in the near future.
View the Diverse Voices in American Literature Symposium website
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