Master’s Degree Awarded to Researcher Saleh Mohammed Al-Salmi in English Literature

Researcher Saleh Mohammed Saleh Qaed Al-Salmi was awarded a Master’s Degreein English Literature with a grade of excellent and an average of (95%) for his thesis titled: Transnational and Self-Orientalist Depictions within the American Dream Framework: A Critical Study of the Representation of Yemen and its People in Eggers’s The Monk of Mokha, which was submitted to the Department of English, Faculty of Languages– Sana’a University.The MA defense was heldon Tuesday, September 8, 2026‎‎.

The MA Viva-voce Committee, which was formed based on a resolution issued by the Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Council, consisted of the following:

• Assoc. Prof. Abbas Abdulmalik Mohammed Mutahhar – Sana’a University – Internal Examiner and Committee Chair.
• Assoc. Prof. Ibraheem N. A. Tagaddeen – Sana’a University – Main Supervisor and Committee Member.
• Assoc. Prof. Abdulmoamen Ali Al-Muntasir – Hodeidah University – External Examiner and Committee Member.

The thesis aimed to examine how the novel’s protagonist negotiates his dual identity in pursuit of the American Dream, and how Orientalist and self-Orientalist strategies continue to reproduce stereotypical representations of the Eastern “Other” within the Western imagination, portraying it as uncivilized, chaotic, and in constant need of Western intervention and supervision. This was achieved through an analysis of the manifestations of double identity and self-Orientalism in the representation of Yemen and its people in Dave Eggers’ The Monk of Mokha.

The thesis reached several key findings summarized as follows:

• Yemen is portrayed through a “Western filter” as a collapsed land marked by institutional dysfunction, structural corruption, systematic bribery, and barbaric threats.
• Yemeni immigrants in the United States are reduced to marginalized figures stripped of dignity and agency.
• The protagonist constructs a dual identity by accepting negative stereotypes of his homeland to conform to Western capitalist norms.
• The American Dream is associated with commodifying national culture, whereby Yemeni heritage and products are marketed and transformed into consumable commodities.
• The American Dream is rooted in Orientalist and self‑Orientalist agendas, functioning as a new form of Western epistemic colonialismthat contributes to legitimizing Western political and economic domination over the Middle East.

In light of these findings, the study recommended that Arab writers avoid internalizing negative stereotypes and reproducing the concept of self-othering in pursuit of Western acceptance, where success and cultural recognition are redefined according to the conditions of Western dominance and through compliance with Orientalist and self-Orientalist perspectives.

The thesis defense was attended by faculty members, researchers, students, andinterested participants as well as the researcher’s colleagues and family members.