Old Age in Arab American Literature: A Reading of Frances Khirallah Noble’s and Joseph Geha’s Short Stories

This essay[1] aims at examining old age in short stories by the Arab American writer Frances Khirallah Noble (2000) and the Lebanese writer Joseph Geha (1990). For such, it takes into account the Arab migration to the United States in the first decades of the twentieth century. Moreover, it discusse...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gláucia Renate Gonçalves, Letícia Malloy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2025-07-01
Series:Ilha do Desterro
Subjects:
Online Access:https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/105213
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849426554061324288
author Gláucia Renate Gonçalves
Letícia Malloy
author_facet Gláucia Renate Gonçalves
Letícia Malloy
author_sort Gláucia Renate Gonçalves
collection DOAJ
description This essay[1] aims at examining old age in short stories by the Arab American writer Frances Khirallah Noble (2000) and the Lebanese writer Joseph Geha (1990). For such, it takes into account the Arab migration to the United States in the first decades of the twentieth century. Moreover, it discusses the dualism between disseminating and reinforcing traditional practices from the place of origin and, on the other hand, a tendency toward assimilation as the way to a successful settlement in the new country. As portrayed by the analyzed literary texts, the tension between perpetuating traditions and embracing foreign traits directly affects elder members of Arab American communities, who may be either pushed to the margin by younger generations or respected for holding a set of values and memories which can be used for the benefit of their communities. Keywords: old age; Arab American short stories; Frances Khirallah Noble; Joseph Geha. [1] Part of this essay has been published in Portuguese in Author #1; Author #2 (ed.). Title of the Book, 2022.
format Article
id doaj-art-d7e6d924cd694993bcb03bd7ea30bd1d
institution Kabale University
issn 0101-4846
2175-8026
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
record_format Article
series Ilha do Desterro
spelling doaj-art-d7e6d924cd694993bcb03bd7ea30bd1d2025-08-20T03:29:21ZengUniversidade Federal de Santa CatarinaIlha do Desterro0101-48462175-80262025-07-0178110.5007/2175-8026.2025.e105213Old Age in Arab American Literature: A Reading of Frances Khirallah Noble’s and Joseph Geha’s Short StoriesGláucia Renate Gonçalveshttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7098-7144Letícia Malloyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2315-4961This essay[1] aims at examining old age in short stories by the Arab American writer Frances Khirallah Noble (2000) and the Lebanese writer Joseph Geha (1990). For such, it takes into account the Arab migration to the United States in the first decades of the twentieth century. Moreover, it discusses the dualism between disseminating and reinforcing traditional practices from the place of origin and, on the other hand, a tendency toward assimilation as the way to a successful settlement in the new country. As portrayed by the analyzed literary texts, the tension between perpetuating traditions and embracing foreign traits directly affects elder members of Arab American communities, who may be either pushed to the margin by younger generations or respected for holding a set of values and memories which can be used for the benefit of their communities. Keywords: old age; Arab American short stories; Frances Khirallah Noble; Joseph Geha. [1] Part of this essay has been published in Portuguese in Author #1; Author #2 (ed.). Title of the Book, 2022. https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/105213Old AgeArab American Short StoriesFrances Khirallah NobleJoseph Geha
spellingShingle Gláucia Renate Gonçalves
Letícia Malloy
Old Age in Arab American Literature: A Reading of Frances Khirallah Noble’s and Joseph Geha’s Short Stories
Ilha do Desterro
Old Age
Arab American Short Stories
Frances Khirallah Noble
Joseph Geha
title Old Age in Arab American Literature: A Reading of Frances Khirallah Noble’s and Joseph Geha’s Short Stories
title_full Old Age in Arab American Literature: A Reading of Frances Khirallah Noble’s and Joseph Geha’s Short Stories
title_fullStr Old Age in Arab American Literature: A Reading of Frances Khirallah Noble’s and Joseph Geha’s Short Stories
title_full_unstemmed Old Age in Arab American Literature: A Reading of Frances Khirallah Noble’s and Joseph Geha’s Short Stories
title_short Old Age in Arab American Literature: A Reading of Frances Khirallah Noble’s and Joseph Geha’s Short Stories
title_sort old age in arab american literature a reading of frances khirallah noble s and joseph geha s short stories
topic Old Age
Arab American Short Stories
Frances Khirallah Noble
Joseph Geha
url https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/105213
work_keys_str_mv AT glauciarenategoncalves oldageinarabamericanliteratureareadingoffranceskhirallahnoblesandjosephgehasshortstories
AT leticiamalloy oldageinarabamericanliteratureareadingoffranceskhirallahnoblesandjosephgehasshortstories