Exilic and Diasporan Representation and the Importance of Food in 'Crescent' by Diana Abu Jaber

Academic Paper from the year 2023 in the subject American Studies - Comparative Literature, , language: English, abstract: This paper aims to discuss the representation of food in diaspora and exile in linkage to identity within the writing of Arab-American author Diana Abu Jaber's 'Crescent'. Food as a cultural trope is discussed in many academic fields such as anthropology, sociology, psychology, cultural studies, and literary criticism. In this view, food is a trope that diasporan writers deploy to negotiate their existence and raise questions about their identity and displacement from the host land. Also, the use of the thematic representation of food that the Arab author, Diana Abu Jaber, includes, aids in discussing the political issues of otherness and self by representing this cultural trope. This paper aims to discuss the representation of food in diaspora and exile in linkage to identity within the writing of Arab-American author Diana Abu Jaber's 'Crescent'. Moreover, it is analysed how food is a marker that aids the existence of people in exile.