Cultural Representation and the Question of Identity in the Literary Works of Naomi Shibab Nye

Abstract

Naomi Nye is a prominent American poet of Palestinian heritage. Nye is a compelling personality pioneering the pace for ethnic and youthful poets. The researcher delves deep into Naomi's literary works to highlight how the poet reflects on the Palestinian social milieu and ethnic variety of her motherland. More emphasis is placed on Naomi's origins and how her multicultural background serves as a launching pad for the poet's current profession as a patriotic writer. The study highlights Naomi's knowledge about the Middle East that seems practically relevant in the present troubled political times. Her literary works become pertinent in these troubling geopolitical conditions. The researcher uses the analytical approach in discussing selected literary works of the writer that include: 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, Fuel, and Habibi. Naomi's poetic lines reflect her upbringing as an Arab American. While analyzing the poetic lines, one is confronted with a very compassionate and genuine lady who has a keen understanding of the complications facing everyone and whose focal attention is to depict reality with the help of poetic lines. Naomi's upbringing as the daughter of Middle Eastern immigrants places her in a unique stance to build bonds among diverse communities that are being riven by miscommunication. Her literary production covers a wide range of topics: citizenship, racial problems, parenting, companionship, and geopolitical difficulties relating to her folks who reside in the colonized Palestinian territory and others who dwell in the United States. As a multi-cultural individual, she demonstrates empathy, racialization, and affiliation. She rejects traditional borders and mistaken identity because the main objective is to identify the intertwined components comprising ethnic history, culture, race, national origin, belief, and physical location.