Abstract

The study explores how diasporic Arab writers Mohja Kahf and Leila Aboulela present their Arab women as strong challengers to the social norms of the West in their respective novels, The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf and Minaret. This study aims to explore the factors that help Khadra develop her Arab identity in the West as presented by Mohja Kahf in her novel The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf. Likewise, the study also explores the factors that help Najwa develop her Arab identity in the West as presented by Aboulela in the novel Minaret. There is much research conducted on each novel and each writer, but the contribution of the current study lies in the fact that both writers come from different regions in the Middle East. Added to that, each novel is set in a different context. Kahf’s character, Khadra, lives all her life in the USA, depending on her family’s love and support to become the woman she is. However, Aboulela’s character, Najwa, struggles without her family’s support and is alone in a foreign country, the United Kingdom. Most of the studies conducted on the assigned works tackle each literary work independently, while the current research tackles both pieces together.