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Since the turn of the twenty-first century, popular Malay television fiction has been thriving and gaining popularity. Through staggering online reruns, this sheer popularity broadens the expanse of multifaceted issues. This paper contextualizes popular TV fiction within a space of imperfection, focusing on audience responses to Julia, Adam & Hawa, and About Dhia. Using the lens of democratic habits of mind according to Mezirow: “respect for others, self-respect, willingness to accept responsibility for the common good, willingness to welcome diversity and to approach others with openness,” this paper reveals two of the many emerging themes, namely, forgiveness and repentance, which can intensify possibilities for acknowledging human faults, vulnerability, and imperfection between the private/public and self/society. By considering reactions of some of the many popular TV fiction audience, this paper presents unfolding, interactive twenty-first-century insights into what it means to pursue an imperfect duty, whose responsibility could be understood in the sense of forgiveness and repentance.

After experiencing the American war in Iraq as a machine gunner in the U.S. Army, Kevin Powers deliberates on war and the risks surrounding the lives of all those involved in his debut novel, The Yellow Birds . This paper aims to uncover the survival psychology that underlies the behaviour of the two main characters in the novel, Private John Bartle and Private Daniel Murphy as well as other minor characters. Survival psychology expounds unpredictable and threatening situations where people’s lives are at stake. They either choose to fight, flight or freeze in reaction to these horrible experiences, that is, they either take action, surrender or eventually die. In the context of war, soldiers frequently face such deadly situations. The reactions of the characters to the circumstances of war and their success and/or failure to cope with its dangers are indicative of their survival mechanism. The novel is examined according to the three major periods of impact in survival psychology, specifically, pre-impact, impact and post-impact periods. Bartle overcomes the psychological consequences of his war experience years after leaving the army, but Murphy loses his faculties in the chasms of war and consequently dies. The psychological survival of those who overcome these risks physically is not guaranteed. Such terrifying experiences of death may make these people vulnerable and exposed to psychological repercussions such as psychosis.

Sistematik yollarla Müslüman öteki bir ızdırap ve korku kaynağına dönüştürülmesini örneklemek için, korku üretme terimini icat ediyoruz (kullanırız). Üretim korkusu, diğerinden korkuyu yaratmanın ve inşa etmenin sistematik bir sürecidir. Bu tür korku, düzenli prosedürler ve teknikler aracılığıyla gerçekleşir ve neredeyse kalıcı bir ruh hali alır. Bu yöntemlerle, öteki korkunç bir varlığa ve daha canavar benzeri nitelikleri taşıyan bir ajana dönüştürülüyor. Bu makalede üç Amerikan romanında korkunun nasıl işlediğini araştırmayı hedefliyoruz, yani, John Updike’ın Teröristi (2006), Don DeLillo’nun Düşen Adamı (2007), ve Andre Dubus III’nin Son Günlerin Bahçesi (2009). Bu üç eserde, bu tür dehşet verici görüntüleri ve Müslümanları örneklendirmesi açısından da inceliyoruz. Müslüman öteki anekdotlarda, korku söylem içinde bağlamsallaştırılmıştır. Bu romanları 9/11 sonrası güvensizlik ve travma atmosferinde incelediyimizde, yazarların kullandığı Müslüman öteki temel yaklaşımlarını ortaya çıkarır. Bu üç eserde, korkunç görüntüler çeşitli teknikler ve yaklaşımlar kullanılarak sunulmuştur. Müslüman öteki korkusu kanlı sahneler, tarihi çatışmalar ve terörist planlarla üretilmiştir., To illustrate the systematic means by which the Muslim other is turned into a source of anguish and horror, we coin the term manufacturing fear. Manufacturing fear is the systematized process of creating and constructing fear of the other. It occurs through regularized procedures and techniques in an almost persistent mood. Through these methods, the other is shaped into an awful entity with more-beast-like qualities as his/her definitive features. In this paper, we aim to investigate how fear functions in three American novels, namely, John Updike’s Terrorist (2006), Don DeLillo’s Falling Man (2007), and Andre Dubus III’s The Garden of Last Days (2009). We also examine these horrifying images concerning the narratives’ exemplification of Muslims. Pertaining anecdotes where fright is manifested about the Muslim other are contextualized within the existent discourse of fear. Situating these novels within the post-9/11 atmosphere of distrust and trauma uncovers the underlying approaches employed by novelists to exemplify the Muslim other. In the three narratives, dreadful imageries have been presented by employing diverse techniques and approaches. Fear of the Muslim other has been manufactured through blood scenes, historical conflicts, and terrorist plots.

John Updike, one of America’s eminent 20 th century novelists, provides his own fictionalized presentation of the Muslim other within the American socio-cultural context in his 22 nd novel, Terrorist. This novel is abundant with binary representations of Muslims whose acts and interactions with fellow Christian and Jewish Americans are scripted by their respective religious values. Updike’s exemplifications of Islam and Muslims within the American context are investigated through the problematizing of Muslims’ socio-cultural imperfections within the lens of orientalism and psychology of (im)perfection. I mperfectionalism as used in this paper refers to the inconsistent, unreliable and unpredictable characteristics that define the Muslim Other in comparison to mainstream American society. Using themes of ‘religious differences,’ ‘differences between religions,’ ‘social differences,’ ‘gendered and exotic differences’ and ‘optimized differences,’ Updike’s Muslim characters are presented as flawed and faulty in their beliefs and conviction. In addition, Updike’s representation of Islam rests on its blemishes including its disregard for self-improvement and modernity. D esigns of orientalism and imperfection as seen in this novel frame the Muslim other as the imperfect version of the perfect non-Muslim American. Keywords: 9/11; Muslims; American novel; differentiation; imperfectionality

This paper is based on three selected novels entitled Does My Head Look Big In This? (2005), Ten Things I Hate About Me (2006), and Where The Streets Had A Name (2008) written by Randa Abdel-Fattah (1979), a Palestinian-Egyptian Australian Muslim diasporic writer. In this article, we examine the manifestations of grafting eco-diasporic identity by Abdel-Fattah in order to address how identity graft is operated by interacting with ideology, culture and nature in the contexts of the host land and the homeland as represented in the three selected novels. Using Colin Richards’ theory of graft as a framework, we explore identity contestations of Muslim young adults in the novels from an ecocritical and diasporic perspectives. In the novel Does My Head Look Big In This?, the images of Amal’s sense of being marginalised in the semiosphere of the host land and the sense of self-respect of her Muslim rootedness and heritage of the homeland semiosphere frame the fractured graft of identity. The character of Jamilah, in Ten Things I Hate About Me displays genuine manifestations of the collective emblem of the grafted identity. Finally, the symbol of the iconic jar of the homeland soil and its potentiality of regenerating Hayaat’s identity in Where the Streets Had A Name exhibits the ecological semiosphere in which the grafted identity is shaped. The current discussion, therefore, offers fresh insights into allowing a new horizon for identity grafting in Abdel-Fattah’s works as well as other writers within the tradition of Muslim Diasporic Literature.

This paper focuses on the manifestations of the American gaze post-9/11 as portrayed in the fictional narrative, Rebounding, by Jamilah Kolocotronis . Kolocotronis, a Caucasian American Muslim revert whose novels in the Echoes Series highlight the American Muslim revert’s personal, interpersonal and multicultural complexities of living in post-9/11 America. Those complexities are made obvious through the American gaze post-9/11 as intentional views, behaviors and actions made by certain members of the non-Muslim American majority towards white and non-white Muslims minority, due to affiliation with Islam. By using the post-9/11 counter-terrorism perspective on national security, this article problematise s the American gaze post-9/11 by explicating how the protagonist Joshua Adams’ material support to a Muslim fellow in Pakistan has brought serious repercussions on his personal and public life. Efforts are also devoted to delineate the transition of the American gaze post-9/11 from the private level, i.e., Joshua’s clash with his father Sam, to the public level, through Joshua’s incarceration by the Homeland Security agents. The findings reveal that the American post-9/11 gaze move beyond the realm of race and nationality into the space of religiosity. It positions Joshua in the grip of atonality, robbing him of his faith, selfhood, and citizenship on both private and public levels . Kolocotronis’ Rebounding expounds how the severity of the post-9/11 American gaze fails to fully establish a sharp distinction between innocent Americans and terrorists. An essential feature of civic engagement which is neglected in post-9/11America as illustrated in this novel is the recognition of the American Muslim revert's public service, virtues and achievements, which demonstrates the premises of separation and association with forces of terrorism. Keywords: American gaze; American Muslim Reversion Narrative; 9/11; war on terror; Rebounding

This paper explores the ecoethical vision and ecological awareness in the selected poems of Pablo Neruda, a Nobel Prize winning poet of Latin American descent who was well known as a political poet. The structural and thematic analysis of the study will focus on the concept of ‘Ethics’ as one of the components of ecopoetry, which is the new brand of nature poetry and one of the components of ecocriticism which investigates the human-nature relationship. The objective of this paper is to highlight the significance of ecoethical consideration of Pablo Neruda towards wilderness. The study utilizes the theoretical frameworks of ecocriticism and ecopoetry to illuminate Neruda’s call for reverence of the wilderness, flora and fauna, in the land, the sea and the sky through an ethical consideration of interdependence and interconnectedness of human and nonhuman. This paper problematizes Neruda’s attitude towards nature to obtain new insights into his ethical stand towards the natural world. The discussion focuses on the poems which reflect the sense of ethics and represent the significant role of humility in shaping our sense of accountability towards the wilderness, while revealing Neruda’s ideology and relationship with the non-human world.

On September 11, 2001, the world was stunned into silence as four hijacked airplanes crashed into two of America’s iconic landmarks, namely the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. For the first time, perhaps since the Vietnam War, the entire United States of America was engulfed in a mutual sense of loss and inconsolable grief. 2996 people, a vast number of them unarmed civilians including all the passengers aboard the four hijacked airplanes, lost their lives in what was perceived by many to be the worst terrorist attack of the twenty-first century. Occurrence of such a colossal tragedy has led to producing a large corpus of textual representation of the event including countless novels such as Amy Waldman’s The Submission (2012). This study focuses on analysing The Submission by Amy Waldman using the theory of Psychoanalysis to explore the concept of psychological trauma and the effects of PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) on female characters affected by the tragedy of 9/11. The analysis, which is mostly based on Wilson and Keane (2004) and Caruth (2001) psychoanalysis theories, seeks to explore Waldman’s perception of the process of healing from the devastating tragedy and psychological trauma of the female characters of the story. It is believed that Waldman’s novel does not only portray the trauma of the characters but also presents the path of recovery and overcoming the PTSD of those who were emotionally wounded by the tragedy of 9/11. Keywords: American authoress; Amy Waldman; The Submission; trauma; posttraumatic stress disorder DOI: http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2301-04

An important component of language teaching is the development of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) among the students. In some language classes, this is done in the literature component of the curriculum. However, in many circumstances teachers are not trained on how to integrate critical thinking skills in literature integrated language learning classes. Training teachers nationwide can be costly to a country if the traditional way of in-service training is adopted. One of the ways to address this problem is by providing online training programmes. A viable alternative platform for online engagement is the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) which has the potential to reach the mass. A training module would have to take into consideration the fact that different schools could be using different literary texts. Hence, the training module for teachers would need to focus on activities or pedagogical approaches rather than the text itself. This paper will focus on the aspects to consider when developing a MOOC for this purpose. This study will focus on Malaysian teachers who are expected to integrate HOTS into their literature lessons. When developing the materials, two important aspects that need to be considered are the components of HOTS and also the approaches that can be adopted. This paper discusses the approaches that can be applied to develop a specific aspect of HOTS. It focuses on the Malaysian teachers who are expected to integrate HOTS into their literature lessons.

This paper traverses readings on Malay cultural identities. While previous research on Malay cultural identities has presented a broad overview, this paper attempts to frame this discussion based on elite constructions and socio-cultural worldviews of the Malay world. It proposes to be a start to exploring what is distinctive and worthwhile about Malay cultural identities.

This paper highlights four completed graduate research projects conducted at the School of Language Studies and Linguistics in the area of Muslim identity in fiction. The four writers chosen are Palestinian-Egyptian-Australian Randa Abdel-Fattah, Ethiopian-Yemeni Mohamad Abdul Wali, Greek-American Jamilah Kolocotronis and Afghani-American Khalid Hosseini. These writers are part of the ever growing diasporic Muslim canon that continues to explore issues of self and the politics of diaspora. The discussion investigates each writer's representation of the Muslim Self with themes which include confronting identity crisis of a minority adolescent, challenging the fractured identity of a minority migrant, defying religious identity representation of a revert, and exoticizing identity of the Muslim landscape. In conclusion, we contend that the Muslim fiction writers problematize the issue of identity of Muslims in the world today given their heterogeneous landscapes and social/cultural contestations.

This paper discusses the current postgraduate level research into the corpus of Muslim Diaspora at the School of Language Studies and Linguistics which reflects the increasing interests into the corpus by students from within and outside the country. The first research focuses on minority Muslim women writers who reside in different host countries: Standing Alone by Indian American, Asra Q. Nomani, We are a Muslim, Please by Pakistani British, Zaiba Malik and The Land of Invisible Strangers by Pakistani British, Qanta A. Ahmed. In these narratives, the Muslim women's selves often face competing binary discourses of Islam and the West/Orientalism. The second research is on three Iranian diasporic memoirs – Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran , Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and Marina Nemat's Prisoner of Tehran . The study explores how these memoirists play the role of a native informer for imperialism by presenting Iranian Muslims as the Other while presenting discourses that justify the ‘war on terror’ under the guise of women's rights. The final study explores how resistance and nature appear to coexist throughout the twenty-six years of the Palestinian Mahmoud Darwish's diasporic writing life. The study synthesizes Darwish's modes of colonialist resistance and in doing so, forge an eco-resistance conceptual framework as a lens for reading resistance in Muslim diasporic writers’ works. The range of researches showcased here illustrates the diversity of issues vis-a-vis the representations of Muslims in diasporic fiction in the West. Each conceptual framework developed towards examining the individual research corpus, as shown in these theses-in-progress, establishes new approaches of reading, elicited from the contexts of the situations that give rise to the production of the texts under scrutiny.

In this action research, we relate literature with everyday realities. Students have the perception that literature is something remote and unconnected to their lives. By determining the awareness and sensitivity of students about current news relating to gender issues, which is the focus of the course “Gender Identities: Malaysian Perspectives,” they will then be taken through a series of tasks to show connections between texts and society. More importantly, at the end of the action plan programme, the students are capable of identifying issues which can bring about social change in their communities.

This action research encompasses three phases. In the first phase, the current practice of students engaging in reading texts through the perspective of gender is examined. Gender identities: Malaysian Perspectives is a course taught to third year students for the Bachelor of Arts (Literature in English) Programme. The course provides an exploration into constructions of gender identities through literary texts. Because students are more familiar with Western oriented gender theories, they often appropriate Western perspectives in their analysis of texts, marginalising their own beliefs and values in the process of interpretation. In this research, through an ethnographic-oriented approach, students will be exposed to various methodologies as an intervention programme to enable them to rethink gender stereotypes and explore the ways in which we read and make meaning out of texts and contexts. Through ethnography, they will be able to compare their findings with the established findings elsewhere, so that they can analyse differences between the local scene and international landscape in matters related to gender.

A critical mind is an empowering tool that allows the individual opportunity to participate in life as an active agent of change. In young adult learners, critical thinking is an evolving concept that requires careful consideration and the task of assisting this development rests among others in the hands of the education practitioners. What engages these groups of learners? What themes are of interest to them? What mode of learning interests them? The answers to these questions will be the enabling factor in engaging the mind and interests of these young adult. This study presents the findings of two case studies of young adult learners conducted at two institutions of higher learning in Selangor. Using both questionnaires and sample activities, the findings suggest that young adult learners generally are motivated to conduct critical thinking irrespective of the learning environment, albeit they require the appropriate stimulus including relevant choices of resources and methodology.

This paper explores the problematic of Arab identity based on the absence of the notion of Ummah as represented in the fiction of Jordanian writer Munis Arazzaz. An analytical exploration of the novels of Munis Arazzaz namely, Alive In The Dead Sea (1982) , Confessions Of Silencer (1986) and The Maze Of Bedouins In The Mirage Scrappers (1986) focuses on the protagonists’ struggle to reunite the Arabs through a shared sense of national identity. The collective personal journey of the three protagonists, as this paper demonstrates, also parallels the journey of the Arab nation as it struggles to accomplish the mission of Arab unity. Arazzaz, as we problematise, depicts the tension between the Arab nation and the political leaders as a conflict between religious and political attachments. Collectively, the narratives illustrate two significant observations, which appear to foreshadow the current crisis in the Arab world. The first is the Arab nation’s scuffle with its violent autocratic authorities, and the second is the intrusive political strategies used by the State to assert its political identity. These two-pronged conflicts reveal the main argument about the Arab identity crisis today pointing out the absence of the Islamic identity or the sorely missing notion of Ummah . The conclusion drawn from the explication of the narrative indicates that the assertion of political identity contradicts with the propagation of the Ummatic identity. The collective Muslim identity, or the Ummah , appears to be in decline and the crisis continues to linger, causing fragmentation and bitterness as seen in fiction and reality.

More than a decade after the US-led intervention of Afghanistan, traditional and tribal customs still play a significant role in the everyday lives of people, especially women. History has proven that women have been playing a significant role in shaping the course of Afghanistan but unfortunately, they are always subjected to different degrees of force by patriarchy and traditions. By examining the historical perspective of women’s status in Afghanistan and by analyzing two Youtube documentaries on women’s imprisonment, we argue that 12 years after the US-led intervention, women are still suffering from traditional and tribal laws. This paper seeks to demonstrate that untraditional education is a “sine qua non” for the women of Afghanistan to overcome negative aspects of tradition and tribal laws.

The influx of memoirs by and about Iranian women has saturated the post-9/11 Western literary market. These memoirs, which emerged after 9/11 and the President Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’ speech addressed to Iran, North Korea and Iraq, are written to quench the curiosity of the Western readers. However many of these memoirists have adopted Western Orientalism framework in writing their discourse. They use the Iranian psyche, people, culture and religious worlds to reproduce the Western bias against the ‘Other.’ This portrayal of Western Orientalism ‘otherness’, which oftentimes begins right from the covers of the memoirs, can be called orientalisation through paratexts.