From Split to Wholeness: A socio-cultural Psychoanalytic Reading of pearl Abraham’s American Taliban and Eyad Harfoush’s The Collapse of Babel Towe

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the image of the other in the two novels: American Taliban and The Collapse of Babel Tower. This analysis tackles internalization and stereotyping as two aspects of the Collective Consciousness affecting the image of the other. In addition, it investigates how the internalization of the cultural wound has resulted over the years in stereotypes and deformed images every culture casts on the other, shaping a collective consciousness of mutual discord and misunderstanding. Furthermore, this paper investigates the inner splits inside both Western and Eastern cultures as well as scrutinize the wound every culture instills in the other's psyche producing a cultural complex. That is because the present researcher presumes that being unconscious of our inner splits as well as being unable to transcend our cultural wounds is the main reason behind today’s hatred, stereotypes, ambiguity intolerance and terroristic image every culture holds for the other. Also, this paper manifests how developing a conscious self-awareness would transcendentally narrow the gap between ‘what man is and what he represents’ which in turn paves the way for a more mutual understanding and appreciation.