Women and Words in Saudi Arabia

Arebi embarks on cultural analysis via the literary work of nine contemporary Saudi women writers in this thoughtful and provocative discussion of gender and literary production at a significant historical juncture for Saudi women. The import of this discussion for and about Muslim women, by a Musl...

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Autor principal: Sherifa Zuhur
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 1995
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/99ec784b770c4e7ea55654f8502685d4
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:99ec784b770c4e7ea55654f8502685d42021-12-02T19:22:43ZWomen and Words in Saudi Arabia10.35632/ajis.v12i2.23802690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/99ec784b770c4e7ea55654f8502685d41995-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/2380https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 Arebi embarks on cultural analysis via the literary work of nine contemporary Saudi women writers in this thoughtful and provocative discussion of gender and literary production at a significant historical juncture for Saudi women. The import of this discussion for and about Muslim women, by a Muslim woman, exists not only in its particular country context but also in the troubling debate now raging over personal expression and commitment to "feminist" reform versus Muslim perceptions of a continuing ideological invasion that is heavily influenced by western political hegemony. I need not even mention the name of Taslima Shahin for readers to acknowledge some degree of anguish in our sharp disagreements over the issue of gender versus culture. The voices of these female Saudi writers range from the avant-garde to conservative "journalese," and Arebi contends that they illustrate the complex nature of female discourse in an Arab-Islamic context. However, she seems to have backed into asserting a unique and nonfeminist position for Saudi women, using such slogans as "quality not equality," although the subjects of her study often write otherwise. Arebi arrives at this analytical quandary by a similar route that has been followed by other sincere scholars and observers. As Leila Ahmed commented some years ago: It is only when one considers that one's sexual identity alone (and some would not accept even this) is more inextricably oneself than one's cultural identity, that one can perhaps appreciate how excruciating is the plight of the Middle Eastern feminist caught between those two opposing loyalties, forced almost to choose between betrayal and betrayal ... Sherifa ZuhurInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 12, Iss 2 (1995)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Islam
BP1-253
Sherifa Zuhur
Women and Words in Saudi Arabia
description Arebi embarks on cultural analysis via the literary work of nine contemporary Saudi women writers in this thoughtful and provocative discussion of gender and literary production at a significant historical juncture for Saudi women. The import of this discussion for and about Muslim women, by a Muslim woman, exists not only in its particular country context but also in the troubling debate now raging over personal expression and commitment to "feminist" reform versus Muslim perceptions of a continuing ideological invasion that is heavily influenced by western political hegemony. I need not even mention the name of Taslima Shahin for readers to acknowledge some degree of anguish in our sharp disagreements over the issue of gender versus culture. The voices of these female Saudi writers range from the avant-garde to conservative "journalese," and Arebi contends that they illustrate the complex nature of female discourse in an Arab-Islamic context. However, she seems to have backed into asserting a unique and nonfeminist position for Saudi women, using such slogans as "quality not equality," although the subjects of her study often write otherwise. Arebi arrives at this analytical quandary by a similar route that has been followed by other sincere scholars and observers. As Leila Ahmed commented some years ago: It is only when one considers that one's sexual identity alone (and some would not accept even this) is more inextricably oneself than one's cultural identity, that one can perhaps appreciate how excruciating is the plight of the Middle Eastern feminist caught between those two opposing loyalties, forced almost to choose between betrayal and betrayal ...
format article
author Sherifa Zuhur
author_facet Sherifa Zuhur
author_sort Sherifa Zuhur
title Women and Words in Saudi Arabia
title_short Women and Words in Saudi Arabia
title_full Women and Words in Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr Women and Words in Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed Women and Words in Saudi Arabia
title_sort women and words in saudi arabia
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 1995
url https://doaj.org/article/99ec784b770c4e7ea55654f8502685d4
work_keys_str_mv AT sherifazuhur womenandwordsinsaudiarabia
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