Amplification of Third Spaces after September 11th in Halaby’s Selected Works

Abstract

American discourse has always been seeking a binary division to prove its own superiority. So after 9/11 by concocting Middle East and Arabs as the other side of the binary division and as the “Others”, it has tried to ignore the existence of a third group in which was “Third Spaces”. In Halaby’s works, “Third Spaces” – Homi Bhabha calls them Liminal People who are situated in a Third Space – are those Arab migrants to America who are not Arab nor American! What we see in Halaby’s works is that this action – what American discourse did – worked in an opposite direction and made these people more highlighted in the society. Nadine Naber believes that before 9/11 this group of people was some invisible characters in the society. But after 9/11 they got more highlighted and also got more attention of the world and what they (Third Spaces like Halaby herself) took advantage of, was that they made a clear image of these people for Americans and other people around the world. They even, to some extents, were successful to show that these Arabs are not so much different from them and in some aspects they are even better than Americans and act better and more morally. What Halaby shows us is that what American discourse was trying to do not only did not work but also worked in a paradoxical way and these people instead of being ignored became more amplified in the society and the falsity of the idea that all of these Arabs are some terrorists was proved.