Abstract

In The Arsonists’ City (2021), Arab American novelist Hala Alyan casts a piercing spotlight on how diasporic and transnational voices are burdened with cultural ambivalences, negative stereotypes, prejudices and discriminations. This paper shows how Hollywood cinema does not help the protagonist, Mazna, to remodel her diasporic identity to be a successful actress. A Syrian actress who has emigrated from Syria to Lebanon and then to the USA to achieve her dream and identity, Mazna’s life turns upside down when Hollywood forces her to take on negative terrorist, sexualized and culturally insensitive roles in films. As this article discusses, Alyan uncovers how these roles dehumanize and trample the Arab races and cultures. It is in this sense that the diasporic novelist draws attention to Hollywood’s negative stereotypes, prejudices and injustices in relation to the representation of an Arab actress in Hollywood cinema. In being thus represented, Mazna is exploited and humiliated when she is forced to perform in naïve and trivial scenes in American movies. Alyan explores Mazna’s diasporic journey as an exterior space over which political, religious and cultural dilemmas conglomerate. Consequently, Alyan opens up spaces based upon cross-cultural tolerance, acceptance, living with difference and valuing religious and cultural diversity.

摘要

在纵火犯的城市（2021 年），阿拉伯裔美国小说家哈拉·阿利安 (Hala Alyan) 尖锐地关注散居海外和跨国的声音如何背负着文化矛盾、负面刻板印象、偏见和歧视。本文展示了好莱坞电影如何没有帮助主人公玛兹娜重塑她流散的身份，成为一名成功的女演员。一名叙利亚女演员从叙利亚移民到黎巴嫩，然后到美国实现她的梦想和身份，当好莱坞强迫她在电影中扮演负面恐怖主义、性化和文化不敏感的角色时，马兹娜的生活发生了天翻地覆的变化。正如本文所讨论的那样，Alyan 揭示了这些角色如何使阿拉伯种族和文化非人化和践踏。正是在这个意义上，流散小说家引起了人们对好莱坞负面刻板印象的关注，与阿拉伯女演员在好莱坞电影中的表现有关的偏见和不公正。在这样的表现下，当玛兹娜被迫在美国电影中表现幼稚和琐碎的场景时，她受到了剥削和羞辱。Alyan 将 Mazna 的流散之旅视为一个政治、宗教和文化困境聚集的外部空间。因此，Alyan 在跨文化容忍、接受、与差异共存以及重视宗教和文化多样性的基础上开辟了空间。