Résumé: This study aims at shedding light on the cultural in-betweenness and hybridity of Arab Americans. Additionally, it examines the expression of important themes in Arab American women’s minor literature. Furthermore, it accentuates the hyphenated identity and food significance in Crescent (2003), a novel written by the Arab American writer Diana Abu-Jaber. This novel focuses on the Arab-American community of Los Angeles. It highlights the multidimensional romantic relationship between Sirine, the thirty-nine-year old beautiful Iraqi-American heroine who works as a main cook at Nadia’s Café, a Lebanese restaurant in Los Angeles, and Hanif, a handsome Iraqi professor of Arabic literature who works with Sirine’s uncle at the university and who admires her beauty and delicious meals. Indeed, both of them suffer from exile and dislocation: Sirine represents cultural exile while Hanif represents political exile. It is undeniable that the Middle Eastern cuisine plays a pivotal role and grants the Arab Americans a sense of identity and community.

Résumé: This paper aims at shedding light on the female mental disorder from a positive perspective. The connections between women’s gender, their mental disorder, and their psychological state are scrutinized within a feminist scope since the feminist approach is required in this context. Indeed, under the umbrella of feminism, women are able to reject oppression and discover their identity. Moreover, many female autobiographical novels, such as Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, are recognised by the presence of women’s mental disorder. The findings reveal that gender and the patriarchal practices lie at the heart of women’s mental disorder, but, fortunately, the latter is considered as a form of rebellion rather than a form of weakness. Thus, this study emphasizes the fact that madness can lead to the formation of an integrated self and a free space away from the traditional social demands.