Arab Diaspora Poems' Journey from Nostalgia to Nature Immersion and Belonging to a Wider World

Abstract

This dissertation discusses how nostalgia transforms and evolves in the poems of the Arab diaspora in the United States. It explores how nostalgia leads to the formation of the two main features of these poems: immersion in nature and the search for the self and truth. While these three main themes of Arab diaspora literature: Nostalgia, Nature, and the Philosophical approach, have been studied, they usually discussed in isolation rather than in connection with each other. This dissertation attempts to study how these three interconnect to influence one another. It is divided into three chapters, chapter one identifies the role of nostalgia in making the poet use writing as a way of returning to the homeland. Chapter two sheds light on the Eco-poetics implications of using nature to escape from the materialism of the city and to immerse in nature for a better understanding of oneself in connection to the universe. Chapter three observes how the poets developed a new sense of self-identity, that elevated them from being cultural mediators between the East and the West to belong to a broader and more hybrid unearthly realm, which is not a complete Orient or Occident. Throughout the dissertation, the discussion is supported by looking at selective poems and writings of Ameen Rihani, Gibran Khalil Gibran, and Ilya Abu Madi. This study reflects on how nostalgia is a trans-formative feeling that encourages nature immersion for a better understanding of oneself and surrounding. And finally how nostalgia can develop into a dream of a better world, where everyone around the world can live in harmony with nature.