ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the concepts of exile, nationalism and Orientalism in the writings of Ahmad Nissim Susa (born 1902) and Shimon Ballas (born 1930). Susa, an Iraqi Jew who converted to Islam in 1936 wrote an autobiography entitled My Life during Half a Century (Haymti fl nisf qarn),1
published in 1986. I explore the parts of the text, which deal with Susa’s life in the United States to demonstrate the ways in which he challenged the categories of “East,” “West,” “Muslim,” and “Jew” and to scrutinize the changes in Susa’s nationalist thinking following his exposure to American life. I also study the representation of the term “America” in the text as a flexible and imaginary category, serving as both a positive and a negative model to contemporary Iraqis.
