Arab Women's Lives Retold: Exploring Identity Through Writing

Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East

by Nawar Al-Hassan Golley (Editor)

Examining late-twentieth-century autobiographical writing by Arab women novelists, poets, and artists, this anthology explores the ways in which Arab women have portrayed and created their identities within differing social environments. Even as the collection dismantles standard notions of Arab female subservience, the works presented here go well beyond the confines of those traditional boundaries. The book explores the many routes Arab women writers have taken to speak to each other, to their readers, and to the world at large. Drawing from a rich body of literature, the essays collectively attest to the surprisingly lively and committed roles Arab women play in varied geographic regions, at home and abroad. These recent writings assess how the interplay between individual, private, ethnic identity and the collective, public, global world of politics has impacted Arab women's rights.

Genres: Middle East, Feminism, Nonfiction

271 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

A Professor in English and gender and women's studies, Nawar Al-Hassan Golley obtained her PhD in Critical Theory at the University of Nottingham, UK. Golley worked at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK, before joining AUS in August 1999. She has presented several papers at international conferences such as the Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, published many articles in prestigious scholarly journals, and translated several literary and critical works by writers such as Adonis, Edward Said, Etel Adnan and others. Golley is the author of Reading Arab Women's Autobiographies. Shahrazad Tells her Story (2003) and editor of Arab Women's Lives Retold. Exploring identity Through Writing (2007 & 2012) and Mapping Arab Women's Movements. Transformations from Within (2012).

Reviews

[Diane Aubry]

Unnecessarily academic writing. Very disappointing

[Frieda Westphalen]

I didn't finish, but it is a good book! It's just a bit dry and out of context when you don't know most of the books/ authors this book talks about.

[Alyaa Bakeer]

I read it for an academic purpose. Did not find it very enjoyable