Complicity with Orientalism in Third-World Women's Writing: Fatima Mernissi's Fictive Memoirs

Bourget, Carine

doi:10.2979/reseafrilite.44.3.30

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…As a non-Western female writer, Mernissi has been lauded for her authorial agency and feminist view of the harem, subverting Western stereotypes and presenting the harem as a possible female space, perhaps not completely of utopia, but where kinship, rebellion, and change are possible (ABDO, 2007;ISHAQUE, 2019;ZHALNER, 2021). However, others have denounced Mernissi for pandering to Western Orientalist narratives (BOURGET, 2013;LEBBADY, 2005;MOORE, 2014). Mernissi admitted to having invented some of the characters, namely Chama and Aunt Habiba (BOURGET, 2013, p. 34).…”

Section: Harem As a Feminine Utopiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to a language barrier, it was not possible to have access to feminist writing that is not written for Western audiences. Critics like Carine Bourget (2013) see this as essential for debating these issues so as to not risk perpetuating the voices of Western, white authors who are foreign to the realities and practices surrounding the harem-such is the case of the author of this paper.…”

Section: Final Remarks: Harem As a Contentious Place Of Meaningsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A utopia do harém: representações do harém nas cartas persas de Montesquieu e em Nasci num Harém de Fatima Mernissi

Alvarenga

2024

Via atl.

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The harem has long been depicted as representative of the Orient in Western imagination. For some, a place of despotic rule and (female) oppression; to others, a feminist utopia of female freedom and protection. This paper analyzes two fundamental works that focus on the harem, Montesquieu’s 18th century Persian Letters, and Fatima Mernissi’s 20th century Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. It will do a comparative and exploratory reading of the harems presented in these two works, while focusing specifically on issues of agency and power—all departing from the concept of despotic power, female and authorial agency, and the gaze.

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Section: Harem As a Feminine Utopiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Final Remarks: Harem As a Contentious Place Of Meaningsmentioning

confidence: 99%