Date of Graduation
Spring 2016
Degree
Master of Arts in English
Department
English
Committee Chair
James Baumlin
Abstract
The Iraqi war not only affected Iraqi culture but also had a significant impact on a historically marginalized member of Iraqi society, namely, women. The American novelist Benjamin Buchholz explored the life of Iraqis from a unique perspective after his 2003 deployment. Instead of writing from the perspective of an American soldier, he gave an Iraqi perspective on the effect of the US-led invasion on Iraqi culture through the eyes of his two main protagonists, Abu Saheeh and Layla. In his novel, One Hundred and One Nights, Buchholz addresses the effect of war on Iraqi culture generally and Middle Eastern women particularly, focusing on the lives of Iraqis living in the southern city of Safwan. Buchholz views Middle Eastern culture and women as susceptible to influences by American culture, as a result of the US-led invasion. Using the interpretive methods of feminism and post-colonialism as outlined by Homi Bhabha and Edward Said, this thesis explores Buchholz's depiction the drastic changes to the conservative culture of Iraq, and especially to its women, as a result of the American occupation. In its conclusion, this thesis suggests that war and postwar occupation affects the culture of other people, which leads to culture collision in some respects and to cultural interchange in other respects.
Keywords
Iraqi invasion, feminism, post-colonialism, culture, Middle Eastern women, Benjamin Buchholz, Literature
Subject Categories
English Language and Literature
Copyright
© Entidhar Hamzah Abbas Al-Rashid
Recommended Citation
Al-Rashid, Entidhar Hamzah Abbas, "The Representation Of The Iraqi War, Middle Eastern Culture, And Women In Benjamin Buchholz's One Hundred And One Nights" (2016). MSU Graduate Theses. 2369.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/2369
