Ma fi gerger ziyada: the South Asian Character in Gulf Cultural Productions

How is the noncitizen subaltern Other portrayed in Gulf cultural productions? While sociological studies argue that Gulf states have defined a national narrative centered on a purely Arab-Islamic identity excluding the Persian, African and South Asian heritage, the way in which cultural productions of the region address the citizen vs. non-citizen divide, the local vs. foreign hierarchy and implicitly question the construction of identity and the position of foreigners in the region is more nuanced. National identity and otherness are more perceived as a continuum than air-tight categories. These “mixed signals” sent by Gulf region cultural productions are analyzed here through their portrayal of the historical relationships between the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent and the way language reflects porosity. The article finally examines the tight rope walked by cultural productions between the need to “discipline the Khaleeji self” and root out racism toward South Asians, and the temptation to “discipline the other” so as to render him suitable for the type of modernity Gulf states and societies aspire to.