Political Rhetoric, Fictional Narrative, and Construction of Arab Muslims in the United States: A Critique of Updike’s Terrorist

Abstract

Representation of Arab Muslims pervades today's American political rhetoric.With the increasing focus on the Muslim world in general, and Arab Muslims in particular after the September 11 terror attacks it is necessary to determine how Arab Muslims, their beliefs, roles, responsibilities and aspirations are portrayed. Based on the analysis of John Updike's novel Terrorist (2006), the study exposes the consequence of 9/11 rhetorics on the representation of Arab Muslims and Islam in the American fictional narrative. The study utilizes works by Donald Pease and Amy Kaplan as a ground for analyzing political rhetoric and fictional narrative. It investigates the dynamics by which Arab Muslims are radically represented in the post-9/11 American narratives. This anti-Arab backlash has affected even Arab-American Christians who find themselves obliged to prove loyalty to the United States on a regular basis. The study facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of American fiction narrative on the Middle East in general, its recent trends, and possible futures and supplies groundwork for future research on issues related to Arab communities in the United States.We should admit rather that power produces knowledge; that power and knowledge directly imply one another.-Michel Foucault