Raising Feminist Consciousness through Literature: Two Women’s Texts from the Arabian Gulf

Tijani, Olatunbosun Ishaq

doi:10.1080/21534764.2019.1738034

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 12 publications

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“…Rabitat Al-Udaba, amongst other organizations, aims to promote the proliferation of Kuwaiti literature (literature by Kuwaitis written in Arabic). Short story competitions, publications of novels, short story collections, scholarly work, and other literary endeavors remain part of the country's agenda to produce, promote, and preserve a national (Kuwaiti) identity (Tijani, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kuwaiti Women Writers and Anglophone Choices: Charting New Territories

Alshammari¹

2022

IJAES

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While there has been a plethora of work on Arab women writers, little attention has been paid to Kuwaiti women writers, especially those who write Anglophone literature. This research paper argues that the choice to write in English rather than Arabic leaves these writers in a problematic position. As a result of embracing the English language, rather than their mother tongue, they are left outside of the dominant literary circle and often marginalized. Through a literary analysis, this paper presents some of the texts written by contemporary Kuwaiti writers who have chosen to write in English, and have produced nuanced narratives of Kuwaiti women who find agency and self-expression through their fictional journeys. These journeys explore themes of agency, voice, and trauma. A significant contribution of the present paper lies in a thematic analysis of lesser-known Kuwaiti texts in order to excavate these marginalized voices. The findings suggest that by choosing to write in English, these writers face the dangers of being dismissed from the literary canon, just like their protagonists must contend with society’s discrimination and expectations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kuwaiti Women Writers and Anglophone Choices: Charting New Territories

Alshammari¹

2022

IJAES

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Is Sadeem Legally Married to Waleed? Islamic Feminism and the Intersection of Culture, Religion, and Gender in Banāt al-Riyāḍ

Tijani

2019

Societies

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RajāAbstract: Rajāʾ al-Ṣāniʿ's Banāt al-Riyāḍ (2005, Girls of Riyadh) is unique not just for depicting globalization and local culture vis-à-vis the woman issue in Saudi Arabia, but for heralding a new trend of 'e-epistolary narratives' in the Saudi Arabian novel. The novel explores issues related to Islamic religious precepts versus Saudi socio-cultural practices and ideologies, especially those related to love and marital relationships as well as the concepts of femininity and masculinity. Most of the reviews and scholarly studies in English have focused more on the novel's innovative narrative style or medium and its portrayal of the taboos of Saudi Arabia rather than on-and oftentimes, ignoring-its Islamic content and persuasion. This article reads Banāt al-Riyāḍ as an 'Islamic feminist' text that represents the extent to which al-Ṣāniʿ has internalized the othermodern western culture and civilization-while at the same time seeking to externalize and highlight the authentic Islamic teachings on women's rights and gender relations, which have always been both misinterpreted locally and misrepresented globally.

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Raising Feminist Consciousness through Literature: Two Women’s Texts from the Arabian Gulf

Cited by 2 publications

References 12 publications

Kuwaiti Women Writers and Anglophone Choices: Charting New Territories

Kuwaiti Women Writers and Anglophone Choices: Charting New Territories

Is Sadeem Legally Married to Waleed? Islamic Feminism and the Intersection of Culture, Religion, and Gender in Banāt al-Riyāḍ

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